The Drums

The Drums
The Drums
Rating: Make Me Want It Daddy

There seems to be another trend of 80s revivalism going on this year, with bands as diverse as La Roux and Wild Nothing each coming up with their own unique spin on classic 80s styles. Another band to add to that list is Brooklyn's The Drums. Based on a listen to their debut album, as well as looking at their retro videos, one could easily be tricked into thinking they were the latest British buzz band of the moment.

I first came across them through their video for the single "Forever And Ever Amen," which looks like it was fresh from the first days of MTV.



Lots of angular guitars, echoing percussion, and analog synths easily shows these boys to be accolytes of bands from that era: New Order, The Smiths, The Cure, Haircut 100, Orange Juice, Talk Talk, etc. Like Wild Nothing, this could easily be a game of spot the influence, but The Drums show that they have a flair for taking a genre and making it their own. When they are firing on all cylinders they make some magical music, such as the gorgeous pop of "Let's Go Surfing"



Or the mad rush of "Me And The Moon"



I love how the poppy music in that song is contrasted with the desperation of the lyrics where the narrator feels he is losing his love:

"It's a lovely night with that look in your eye-e-oh
But you still sleep with your back to me.
Is me and you or is it just me and the moon?"

What intrigues me most about The Drums is when they begin to explore outside the confines of the 80s revisionalism; particulary in more thought out pieces such as "Down By The Water" which is a beautiful 50s style song, filled with lovely harmonies and backing vocals.



You can still tell The Drums aren't quite there yet with their songs. Too many songs sound like sketches or demos that should have been polished ("We Tried" and "I'll Never Drop My Sword") and the front half of the cd is definitely front loaded with the stronger tracks. It is not a cohesive release such as the debut from Wild Nothing. Give them a chance to tour more and polish things and I think we are going to hear some good things from them in the future.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top albums of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not good; could have either been trimmed or spent more time on.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.