The Drums

The Drums

(Downtown)

Record Review by Kevan Peterson

Turning out atmospheric rock like a comet assembly line, you’d think this quartet were from Britain with all their brooding and emotional baggage.  Opening track “Best Friend” takes a bit of The Cars and puts it in a musical blender with equal parts The Charlatans UK and a dash of The Smiths.  The result is a tasty track that can be served up at any gathering with pride.  In fact, if you desire a larger course, the album can be served in its entirety.

The Drums don’t alter their formula too much from one track to the next, but their concoction is so intoxicating that deviation is not necessary.  Using simple driving chord progressions as their base ingredient, the band sprinkles in slight variations such as whistling on “Let’s Go Surfing,” and unearthly chimes on “The Future.”  They say when forming a band the hardest thing to find is the drums, and in that spirit, The Drums have found one of the hardest things to find in music: heart.