The Drums The Drums (Island)
3/5
By: Matt Tomiak
The Drums is a yearning, melodic, enigmatic debut, utterly in thrall to those bands who were to be regularly located amongst the upper echelons of a John Peel Festive Fifty in the halcyon early/mid 1980s: a time when the cerebral outsiderdom of Cocteau Twins, The Smiths, The Wedding Present and The Housemartins would be celebrated each Christmas.
The Drums draw upon all of those acts here, but are steeped most brazenly in the sound of Factory Records - and the charming attempts of these four young Brooklyn boys to emulate New Order's 'little diaries for the radio' (as David Quantick described the Manc dance-rock titans' run of stupendous hits a generation ago in the sleeve notes to their 2005 Singles compilation) are, on the whole, successful.
Stand-outs 'Best Friend' and 'Let's Go Surfing' provide the immediate pop hooks; 'Me & The Moon' fuses an electronic rhythmic pattern straight out of Stephen Morris' early Joy Division repetorie with an insistent jangle. Singer Jonathan Pierce's refusenik whimpers of "I just don't wanna dance anymore" in the Belle & Sebastian-tinged 'Book of Stories' are convincing enough, as is the endearing Jesus & Mary Chain-lite of 'Down By The Water.'
Like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Vampire Weekend and The Strokes before them, The Drums may not ultimately be possessed of serious staying power, but they have made a debut album as shamelessly derivative as it is fitfully thrilling and life-affirming.
Artists in this article: The Drums
Your Feedback
Login to post your comment