| CD REVIEW The Drums |
|
|
Band : The Drums The Drums are a four-piece indie pop band from New York City, founded in 2008. There is a lot of buzz around the debut album of The Drums. Some magazines and radio stations call The Drums one of the most promising bands of 2010 and their self-titled debut album receives raving reviews.
So, I dug into the history of The Drums. Singer Jonathan Pierce and guitar player Jacob Graham are childhood friends with a common interest in electro pop and synthesizer music. The other guitar player, Adam Kessler, used to be in the indie rock band Elkland together with Jonathan Pierce between 2003 and 2005. Jonathan left Elkland, disillusioned in the music business, and took some time off. In 2008 Jonathan, Jacob and Adam joined forces to start up The Drums, with drummer Connor Hanwick added to the line up. The sound they had in mind was with an emphasis on poppy guitars instead of synthesizers. Pop bands from the fifties are a main influence, just like new wave bands from the eighties. Melancholy goes hand in hand with the search for timeless melodies. References are for instance The Smiths, Echo And The Bunnymen and bands from the famous Factory-label like Joy Division and New Order. No wonder that the New Yorkers of The Drums pretty much sound like a Britpop band. And it works, I must say. I’m not going to express my opinion by overloading The Drums with superlatives, but the least I can say is that we are dealing with an utmost talented band that can only grow stronger.
I’m already waiting for their second album.“The Drums” contains 12 songs and has a playing time of 43 minutes.
Highlights of the album are the opening track “Best Friend”, “Let’s Go Surfing”, “Forever And Ever Amen”, “It Will All End In Tears”, “I Need Fun In My Life” and “The Future”. The Drums play at the Pukkelpop festival in Hasselt (Belgium) on August 21st 2010, and undertake a European club tour in December with for instance a stop in Brussels at the AB on December 16th 2010. 80/100 Erik. |
