The Drums

Ordinary story of The Drums

Right, you have already heard this story. Young musicians get together to form a band to have a merry and meaningful time. They do not share grand plans or ambitious goals. Meanwhile, the music they play is far from new for you have already tasted it from experienced and established performers. Yet after some time, they start talking about the recently gathered ensemble. Talking with respect and recognition. Soon this outfit is inevitably enlisted among the candidates to the title of the most promising, most potential, most quickly developing and many other ‘most something’ musicians. Following one or two brilliant singles, the band finally releases a long-awaited full-length studio record which in many cases in named just like the band itself. Of course, this CD is honored with a great many of purchases, reviews and a massive promo-tour. A simple story like that is now discloses the progress of a very young band called The Drums. After being found in the BBC Sound short-list and issuing an EP and a couple of singles, these guys took down to recording a long player giving it quite an expectable title The Drums.

A great variety of emotions on The Drums

Surf-pop is the term that many music experts resort to when describing The Drums. Well, this means that the album stores for us a bunch of funny stories about careless and sweet life on the American beaches in the summertime. Anyway, this is what these musicians offered us on their EP Summertime. You will have enough music like that on The Drums as well. The best example is a song with a characteristic title Let’s Go Surfin’. However, the CD features tracks that do not praise hanging about the beaches till dawn and adventures with beautiful ladies. The Drums debut album offers emotional and profound pieces that ideally match the vocal manner of the singer Jonathan Pierce. This guy knows how to convey through his voice all the sorrow, sadness and pain he wants you to feel with him; so be ready to use a handkerchief. It is sufficient to refer to the psychedelic Me And The Moon or the touching Best Friend, a song where Pierce laments over the death of his friend. Yet Jonathan reaches the heights of perfection on Book Of Stories, arguably, the best fragment of the entire record. When it comes to music, we have to say that The Drums are very close to the perfect balance between contemporary and appropriate synths and light, yet catchy, guitars taken from indie-rock.

Light sadness

Jonathan Pierce did mean it when he was saying in an interview that the stir raised about his band was quite an unexpected thing to him. These musicians, indeed, had their minds free of conquering the word or selling millions of CDs when they arranged their first rehearsals. Nevertheless, today The Drums are the main followers and continuers of what was started by The Smiths and The Beach Boys. That’s right, these legendary outfits are named among those who have the biggest influence on the music of the young ensemble. The most significant achievement The Drums have already made is that these men managed to breathe a new diversity in the genre deemed by many as lost forever in oblivion. Simple, yet pleasant tunes, light summer atmosphere and dance rhythms are what The Drums borrowed from more experienced performers. Yet their music renders a wide range of emotions and deeper feelings. This brings about the though that these songs bear a very personal touch. Probably, when someone says light sadness then it’s about the sadness that dominates as much as half the album. No doubt, The Drums is a big and serious job that is worthy of attention and interest from the part of both audience and critics.