Sunday, December 4, 2011

The Drums Are Amazing.


It’s been a long, long time since I’ve heard anything that has stopped me in my tracks. Then along came The Drums. Wow. Wow! This is such a stupendous record that I’m literally in awe of just how awesome this little record is. In an age where so much indie rock is a cliché of itself, The Drums self-titled album is anything but.

What makes them, and their album, so spectacular is the fact that their influences and their sound are both very subtle. Put it this way, The Drums are the best amalgamation of 80’s British pop and surf music you are likely to ever here. This is a band that clearly gets it, and realizes that the best way to go about idol worship is not to make it blatantly obvious but to very quietly work all that they adore into their songs. In listening to The Drums you can pick out influences like Orange Juice, The Cure, Jesus and Mary Chain, and even the Beach Boys. It’s all there very indistinctly but there none the less.

The Drums is a dose of sunshine in a grey and grim world. It’s as if the Smiths took a happy pill and wrote these songs. From the death threats and synth sweeps of “Skippin’ Town,” to the frivolity and joy of, “Best Friend,” this band is so on top of every aspect of their band that they seem almost too good to be true. This is a band that looks the part, sounds the part, and almost seems like they are from 80’s Oxfordshire.

In a world of indie being done to death and then being done on top of that, The Drums take the high road and strives for something exquisite and inconspicuously brilliant. With a group of songs that are as overjoyed as they are jaded and as jangly as they are lush they succeed. The Drums quite simply is one of the best records I’ve heard in 2010 and might very well be my favorite record this year. There’s just something so overwhelmingly classic about The Drums and their record that makes me want to listen to them over and over again.

No comments:

Post a Comment