Best Friend – The DrumsBest Friend – The Drums (Buy)
The first time I ever heard The Drums was live at the Studio @ Webster Hall last summer. It was only their 10th show, but despite being a young act, I had already seen a handful of write-ups about their performances. When they took the stage to play to a crowd of 30 people that Sunday afternoon, one thing was instantly clear – The Drums were true performers.
The Drums are one of the best examples of a new band with a strong singular vision for their music. Their look, sound, and performance are carefully manicured to deliver a message of young summertime love. I was completely hooked by this band’s combination of 80’s indie and summer imagery. At the end of their set I purchased their EP, Summertime, which stood as the only thing I listened to for the following two weeks.
So when it was announced that a full length was on the way, the gears started to turn in my head as I tried to imagine what it might sound like. The first question that came to mind was how the production would be on this new album. For those who haven’t heard Summertime, the songwriting is stellar, but the production has ‘recorded in a bedroom’ written all over it. Cheesy drum machines and cheesier synths blanket the EP. Although this could be abrasive to a first time listener, I came to appreciate the production as an extension of The Drums’ fun loving simplicity.
Now with the debut LP in hand, I was able to reconnect with the band I had been so excited by a year prior. Track one, Best Friend, instantly set the stage for the album as a whole – the cheesy drum machines are back! In fact, the overall production is only a minor upgrade from the EP, a decision I agree whole heatedly with. This recording choice also allows for two songs from the EP, Let’s Go Surfing and Down by the Water, to sit in the track list almost identically to the way they sounded on the previous release. It’s the same recordings, just re-mastered. And just like the previous EP, almost every song deals with love or love loss.
But there’s more too it than subject matter. As I stated earlier, this band has their sound down to a science. Part of the formula is a sense of humor. A large part of The Drums’ cool factor is how they poke fun at their own simplicity. The opening track of the album gets you dancing immediately, but the first lyric reads “You were my best friend, but then you died.” The lyrics continue to play off the acceptance of how absurdly rudimentary these songs are throughout the album. And here’s where this band strikes another nerve.
Don’t we all wish love was this simple? Don’t we all wish the only prerequisite to ‘going steady,’ was catching a smile from your crush in math class? Movies and television have already capitalized on our infatuation for ideals. Music can do this just the same. This album is full of idealistic thoughts – every one of them spelled out in black and white.
In terms of the feel of this release, The Drums are running on all cylinders from beginning to end. They know what they are doing. But songwriting wise, this album has a downfall – and that downfall is act three. The final four or five songs are downright forgettable. Frankly, it just sounds like they ran out of ideas half way through. Nothing new is introduced, and the hooky choruses and dance feel just don’t hit the same.
Nonetheless, The Drums are a step ahead of a large portion of the up and coming indie world. They have very quickly been recognized for it, and in my eyes will only continue to grow. This album certainly won’t stunt that growth. I give it an 8.2.
