Darcy Clay – Jesus I Was Evil (EP)

(Antenna Records, 1997)

Darcy Clay was a New Zealand born musician who put out two six track EPs before taking his own life at the age of 25. The first of these two EPs, Jesus I Was Evil, was recorded mostly in his bedroom on a 4-track recorder. The result is part rock, part blues, part electro-pop, and all Darcy.

Through the title track, Darcy gained some airplay and notoriety throughout New Zealand. The catchy Jesus I Was Evil has been described as a “Kiwi cult classic. It sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard before, and yet it’s everything you’ve ever heard”. He maintains high levels of enthusiasm and energy, especially on All I Gotta Do which, with its low production values, sounds exactly like it would in a small club, surely with a lively bunch of 20 to 30 students flailing their bodies about.

Darcy has certain twang to his singing voice, something that would have Dolly Parton fans cringing if they ever heard his cover of Jolene. Here it fits perfectly with a swagger and confidence befitting of Mick Jagger. The only track on the EP that was produced in a studio, In the Middle, is (for 1997) ahead of its time with an infectious electro-pop groove that would see him fit in somewhere between Disasteradio and Kids of 88 in today’s musical landscape.

Sadly Darcy’s musical brilliance was lost too early. On his next EP he covered Elton John’s tribute to Princess Diana, Candle in the Wind (Darcy named it English Rose), this song could suitably be used to describe Darcy also; “your candle burned out long before your legend ever will”.