The Drums – The Drums
Moshi Moshi: 2010
The Drums’ highly anticipated self-titled debut album (released June 7, Moshi Moshi/ Popfrenzy records) is a catchy, if contrasting, summertime pop album. Much of the album deals with either loss or disillusionment but delivered in an upbeat, melodic manner. The band hails from New York but is more sonically tied to 50s, beachy surf-rock and melodramatic, Brittanic singing styles of say, Morrissey. The resulting sum of these seemingly conflicting parts, however, is a consistently solid surf pop record.
The opening track “Best Friend” exemplifies these working contrasts as singer Jonathan Pierce croons “You were my best friend / But then you died / And how will I survive?” over bouncy electro-drums and a jangling pop guitar riff. Indeed there is much of this kind of alternating optimism and earnest emotion throughout the album, even if it is sometimes washed out in the waves of pop riffs. And while the hooks often steal the show, digging deeper, the songs’ topics (loss, heartbreak) contain earnest if simplistic lyrics that befit their sincerely told stories.
Example: when Pierce sings “I don’t feel sorry when you cry / I don’t believe you when you lie,” on “It Will All End In Tears” you believe him, despite the fact you may be dancing all the while to plucky guitars.
“Let’s Go Surfing” is a whistly-riffy party. It sounds like a song The Smiths would perform if they played a concert in an Annette Funicello beach movie. “Skipping Town” is a similar summery throw-back, a sort of postmodern Beach Boys jam.
The lone complaint here is that sometimes the sound and lyrics sound so similar that sometimes it seems to all run together. It’s as if the band falls into the trap of trying to craft the perfect pop song by building on each song instead of taking a new approach on each attempt. But perhaps this is why “Down By The Water” jumps out as the best track of the album.
The steady, borderline anthemic track shows shades of Stand By Me – both the song and the movie. The band has reportedly been closing performances with the number, understandable with its earnest sing-a-long chorus (“If you fall asleep down by the water / Baby, I’ll carry you / all the way home.”) carrying concert goers off with a memorable lifesaver.
While their repetition might initially come across as a crutch, it also proves that this is the album they are trying to make, this is the post-punk surf pop sound they’re trying to perfect. And damn it all if it ain’t catchy.
They take their show to several European festivals this summer. Check out their band page here.
3.5 out of 5
i read an interview with james mercer in which he was talking about hearing this band and liking them way after they had gotten popular. good music prevails!