“I’m Done”, the latest single from Bay Area family outfit Don’t Tell John, is a molten blues-rock offering steeped in heartbreak and hard-won clarity, and we exclusively premiere it here at Music Crowns.
This offering arrives with the kind of lived-in authenticity that only a band bound by blood, and battle-tested by years of shared experience, can summon.
Led by powerhouse vocalist Veronica Larkin, whose voice rasps and roars with the same ragged soul as Janis Joplin or Beth Hart, the track is both a personal exorcism and a universal anthem.
There’s a visceral charge to every element here: the guitar lines swagger and sting, the rhythm section pounds with purpose, and Larkin’s vocal cuts clean through the noise, each lyric delivered like a final straw. Produced with a livewire edge, the song refuses polish in favour of punch, capturing the sweaty catharsis of a dive bar set where the amps are too loud and the crowd knows every word.
The familial makeup of Don’t Tell John adds to that raw chemistry. Veronica is flanked by her father and uncle — Mark and Jack Larkin, the latter a veteran of ’90s act Nathan’s Hand — as well as her cousin William on guitar, joined by Eric Cretarolo (lead guitar) and Jon Protass (percussion). It’s a lineup that blurs generational lines but sharpens emotional intent, and you can hear that alchemy in every note.
Fans of Soundgarden’s muscular grit, Alabama Shakes’ soul-stung swagger, or early Black Keys will find plenty to worship here — but there’s something distinct in Don’t Tell John’s DNA, a familial pulse that keeps things both grounded and gloriously unrestrained.
With “I’m Done”, the band offer a sound of knowing exactly what you no longer need — and turning up the volume as you leave it behind.
