Drive Like You Stole It - 'Frequency' (Undergroove)
3/5
By: Thomas Hannan
'Frequency' is an album with ambitions that dwarf its mini-album status. Just look at that name for starters - take it seriously, and you'd expect a fair degree of commitment from those who go under it. Alternatively, view it as entirely silly, and you'd be led to think the music is too.
Halt in your tracks if you're about to take that second option however, for dedication and aspiration are two things present in a striking abundance. Although the name may well be unquestionably contrived, get over it, please - it's just a name, after all. Rest assured that for the band however, this doesn't sound as if it's 'just' music. It's refreshing to hear a record that sounds as if it's the sole reason for being of those who made it. And, although it may sound condescending, it's this strong-willed, sprightly determinism that you'll find easiest to admire about Drive Like You Stole It.
This isn't to say there aren't some promising tunes, just a number of niggling imperfections that are, for the moment at least, stopping them from being the band they could be - and that's a very good one. It suffers from a stumbling-block that has claimed the lives of so many otherwise strong albums that people should, by now, really be cottoning on to its perils. So here's a piece of advice - by all means, start things off with a bang (as DLYSI do very well with 'Sleight Of Hand', both their most intriguing and infectious piece), but make sure there's something of equal quality to follow it up in the rest of proceedings. What with 'Frequency' being a mini-album it doesn't matter quite so much; it's short and snappy enough throughout to still pack a punch; but there is a slight suspicion of subsequent tracks trying in all too similar ways to revisit the early heights of the opener.
'Frequency' reads as a warning-shot. It is, in places, somewhat immature and underdeveloped. But, thankfully, no song is without its charms, be they an anthem of a chorus, an intriguing rhythmic twist or hefty dose of heads-down, no-nonsense rock. Vocalist Mel Young is also in possession of a fine voice, both sweet when it needs to be and vitriolic when called upon ('Treading Water' masters both) without sounding at all insincere. It's just in combining such charms that the pieces of the puzzle have yet to quite come together. There are gaps, but the intuitive will be able to envisage a far more intricate, complete picture - pieces like the more developed feel of 'Put Me Back Together' make this all the less complicated.
Clearly, 'Frequency' comes across as a young record made by an even younger band, and hints at a future that will, bluntly, put this record to shame. Give it them year or two, a record or two, just give them a chance, won't you? We'd truly hate to say we told you so.
Artists in this article: Drive Like You Stole It
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