Dartz! (often stylized as DARTZ!) were a

Math rock Math rock is a style of progressive and indie rock with roots in bands such as King Crimson and Rush as well as 20th-century minimal music composers such as Steve Reich. It is characterized by complex, atypical rhythmic structures (including ...

group from

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, England, who formed at the beginning of 2005. They are signed to

Xtra Mile Recordings Xtra Mile Recordings are a British independent record label based in London, England. The label was founded in 2003 by Charlie Caplowe and they release an eclectic mix of genres with a focus on rock and folk. History The label first signed the ...

in the UK and

Deep Elm Deep Elm Records is an independent record label releasing albums by bands such as Lights & Motion, The Appleseed Cast, Brandtson, The White Octave, and Planes Mistaken for Stars. It also released the compilation series ''The Emo Diaries''. H ...

in the US, and released one full-length album, one mini-album, three singles and a split 7-inch via Xtra Mile, as well as an EP on Sunderland based DIY micro-label Fakedream Records, and a split 10-inch with Scottish band Stapleton on Gravity DIP. They recorded with the record producer Mark Williams (

Biffy Clyro Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band that formed in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, composed of Simon Neil (guitar, lead vocals), James Johnston (bass, vocals), and Ben Johnston (drums, vocals). Currently signed to 14th Floor Records, they have ...

Bloc Party Bloc Party are an English rock band, composed of Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, sampler), Russell Lissack (lead guitar, keyboards), Justin Harris (bass guitar, keyboards, saxophones, backing vocals) and Louise Bartle (d ...

Fightstar Fightstar are a British rock band from London that formed in 2003. The band is composed of lead vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist Charlie Simpson, guitarist and co-vocalist Alex Westaway, bassist Dan Haigh and drummer Omar Abidi. General ...

Nine Black Alps Nine Black Alps are an English alternative rock band, formed in 2003 in Manchester. The band consists of vocalist-guitarist Sam Forrest, guitarist David Jones, drummer James Galley and bassist Karl Astbury. Taking their name from "The Couriers ...

Million Dead Million Dead were an English post-hardcore band from London, active between 2000 and 2005. History The band was founded in 2000 by Cameron Dean and Julia Ruzicka, after both came to London from Australia. They were joined by Ben Dawson, who h ...

, Ghymp) at the Battery Studios in London and they toured with Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, Hot Club De Paris and

The Rumble Strips The Rumble Strips are an English band from Tavistock, Devon. The 4-piece line-up of Charlie Waller, Henry Clark, Tom Gorbutt & Keith Lunnon was present from the first recordings until late 2006 when Sam Mansbridge joined to fill out the sound ...

, as well as also playing with bands including

The Futureheads The Futureheads are an English post-punk band from Sunderland, formed in 2000. The band consists of Ross Millard (vocals and guitar), David "Jaff" Craig (vocals and bass guitar) and brothers Barry Hyde (vocals and guitar) and Dave Hyde (drums) ...

Melt Banana Melt-Banana is a Japanese noise rock band that is known for playing extremely fast noise rock mixed with experimental, electronica and pop-based song structures. Since forming in 1992 the band has released ten albums and toured worldwide extens ...

, The Young Knives,

Make Believe Make believe, also known as pretend play, is a loosely structured form of play that generally includes role-play, object substitution and nonliteral behavior. What separates play from other daily activities is its fun and creative aspect rather t ...

and

Foals A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. When the foal i ...

. More recently Dartz added long-time collaborator Nico Taylor, once the logistics man for the band, to the line-up. In September 2007, the band announced that they were going to take a break from touring to focus on their education, with Maughan studying English Literature at Oxford University and Anderson studying English and Film at Sheffield Hallam. The decision was explained in an article in

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

newspaper entitled "Bands Balancing Uni With Fame", although it was criticised by the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' in the magazine's review of "The Sad History Of The Village Of Alnerique" in September 2008. Dartz have had three videos featured on

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to shift its programmin ...

, all of which were directed by Teesside University lecturer Marcus T. Diamond. A fourth video, for the track "Cold Holidays", was recorded by Wife Swap cameraman Rob Taylor during the band's tour with

I Was A Cub Scout I Was a Cub Scout were a two-piece synthpop/indie rock band from Nottingham, England, consisting of Todd Marriott (vocals, synthesizers, guitar, formerly of Through Winter) and William Bowerman (drums, formerly of Sixteen Hours).Lester, Paul (2007 ...

. They broke up on 2 July 2009 according to their MySpace page. Their final live outing was at The Peel, Kingston. Support came from former touring partner Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.

Discography

Albums

Singles/EPs

References

External links

Sound As Language
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dartz Dance-punk musical groups English rock music groups