If Darstar can go full force in the direction of “Space Blanket” and “Quantum Psychics” there will be plenty of sweet music to come. The debut record, Tiny Darkness, is a respectable effort from a group of Texans fronted by a female lead who soul-search an electronic yet guitar-heavy style. However, they will eventually have to choose a side, because in all honesty,“Val Kilmer’s Tennis Elbow” is the greatest name for a song ever, but that Vincent Price horror movie synthesizer playing throughout it’s entirety does not work.

Perhaps the unspoken “elephant in the room” is the production work, which seems a little too ’90s for their own good. Maybe I’m being too presumptuous, but put Darstar in the hands that polished the most recent albums by Harlem or Best Coast, and one might hear this record fully maxed out to its potential.

Nonetheless jams ensue. When you listen to tracks like “Bonneville Salt Flats” and the slickly named “Defenders Of Quality Rock N’ Roll,” a loud and electrifying live show is not hard to imagine. Ultimately, Tiny Darkness does solid work on the fringe of grunge and pop. Their future endeavors should be eagerly anticipated.

(Idol Records, PO Box 140344, Dallas, TX 75214 )