Darlin' was a French rock band formed in 1992 by

Laurent Brancowitz Laurent may refer to: *Laurent (name), a French masculine given name and a surname **Saint Laurence (aka: Saint ''Laurent''), the martyr Laurent **Pierre Alphonse Laurent, mathematician **Joseph Jean Pierre Laurent, amateur astronomer, discoverer ...

Thomas Bangalter Thomas Bangalter (; born 3 January 1975) is a French musician, record producer, singer, songwriter, DJ and composer. Son of French music composer and artist Daniel Vangarde. He is best known as one half of the former French house music duo Daft ...

and

Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo Guillaume Emmanuel "Guy-Manuel" de Homem-Christo (; born 8 February 1974) is a French musician, record producer, singer, songwriter, DJ and composer. He is known as one half of the former French house music duo Daft Punk, along with Thomas Bang ...

. Their name was taken from

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

song of the same name.

Background

The Beach Boys-inspired group released their songs on

Stereolab Stereolab are an Anglo- French avant-pop band formed in London in 1990. Led by the songwriting team of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier, the group's music combines influences from krautrock, lounge and 1960s pop music, often incorporating a repetit ...

Duophonic Duophonic sound was a trade name for a type of audio signal processing used by Capitol Records on certain releases and re-releases of mono recordings issued during the 1960s and 1970s. In this process monaural recordings were reprocessed into a ...

record label, contained in the '' Shimmies In Super 8'' compilation with

Huggy Bear Huggy may refer to: * Huggy (Pillow Pal) *Huggy Boy * Huggy Face *Huggy Leaver *Huggy Ragnarsson *Huggy Wuggy, an antagonist in the horror video game ''Poppy Playtime ''Poppy Playtime'' is an episodic horror video game developed and publishe ...

and Colm. In 1995 they appeared on the ''De La Viande Pour Le Disco?'' compilation, released by Banana Split. This rare limited edition cassette contained two unreleased Darlin' tracks, named "Untitled 18" and "Untitled 33". A review in British music magazine ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' called the music "a

daft The Dutch-American Friendship Treaty (also known as DAFT or Dutch American Residency Treaty) is an agreement between the United States and the Netherlands signed into law at The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipa ...

punky thrash." Thus after this short-lived group disbanded, Bangalter and de Homem-Christo created

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...

, a successful and world-renowned electronic music project, from 1993 until its later disbandment in 2021. Meanwhile, Brancowitz joined his younger brother Christian Mazzalai in the band

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

. The three remained friends, most recently appearing together when Daft Punk made a surprise appearance during the encore of Phoenix's show at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

in October 2010.

Discography

* '' Shimmies In Super 8'' (April 1993, Duophonic) (compilation with

and Colm) – "Cindy So Loud" and " Darlin'" * ''De La Viande Pour Le Disco?'' (1995, Banana Split) (various artists compilation) – "Untitled 18" and "Untitled 33"

References

{{France-band-stub French indie rock groups Musical groups established in 1992 Daft Punk French musical trios