After the release of their 2006 album, Three's Co., and a cover of "Hung Up" on a
Madonna tribute album,
the Tyde basically vanished. The band's main man, Darren Rademaker, popped up occasionally, most notably on
Beachwood Sparks'
Tarnished Gold reunion album in 2012, but mostly he seemed cool with surfing and growing his hair. The release in 2016 of the fourth
Tyde album came as something of a surprise, then. Titled
Darren 4, the record featured some familiar faces like his brother
Brent and guitarists Ben Knight and Colby Buddelmeyer, and some newcomers like family friend
Neal Casal and
Suede guitarist
Bernard Butler. The first couple songs sound like they were recorded days after Three's Co. instead of a decade; "Nice to Know You" is the kind of meeting between bubbling country-rock and jangling '80s U.K. indie pop that the band made its own, while "Ode to Islands" introduces some very
Felt-sounding organ and lovely female backing vocals. The rest of the album is a mix of brokenhearted trad rock ballads, boogie rockers, and a nicely dramatic duet with
Butler that sounds like the best kind of '90s alt-rock. While the album is a little on the short side, it's nice to have Rademaker and his band back making records again. ~ Tim Sendra