The Drums are from Brooklyn, but their tight, synth-heavy melodies call to mind the sunny Florida coast where guitarist Jacob Graham grew up, and where the band convened to write their first EP's worth of songs. Their sound is clean-cut and crisp, layered with analog synthesizers and surf-tinged guitar, every instrument in competition for the catchiest hook. Lead singer Jonathan Pierce's voice can be tender and melancholy, but at a recent show on October 20th, his trademark pipes were still intact after two hours. On their self-titled album, out this previous summer, The Drums craft dreamy, sun-kissed cuts about young love and surfing. Lyrically, Pierce makes a point of wearing his heart on his sleeve: "I don't know how to feel without your love," he opines on "Me and the Moon". They crank out gem after catchy indie-pop gem, low-fi riffs bouncing off of Connor Hanwick's clipped drumbeats, topped by Pierce's pouting delivery.
At the show, Pierce was electric, wowing the crowd with Elvis-reminiscent dance moves and a sizable helping of bravado. "This song is about my dead best friend," he announced, gloriously deadpan, before launching into "Best Friend". Although the poses and his overwrought delivery took some getting used to, by the end the audience was eating out of his hand. The Drums' music perfectly captures the carefree, head-over-heels in love feeling that is being young. "We've always tried to stay away from anything edgy or hip," Pierce said in a 2009 interview with Pitchfork, "[and] just be super vulnerable. It's how they did it back then. The ideas behind the content of the song [were] always so simple...We decided to just really go for it." 1
After a long wait, and despite bandmate Adam Kessler's recent departure, it looks like The Drums are finally going to get the credit they deserve. Their turn at Webster Hall was completely sold out, both their album and EP, "Summertime!", have done well, and The Drums are well on their way to becoming a household name and bringing their brand of nostalgic beach-rock to mainstream America. But, as always, they remain modest. Pierce insists "we're really just like everybody else, chasing that perfect pop song." 2 And on The Drums, they come damn close to catching it. "If you fall asleep / down by the water / baby, I'll carry you all the way home," he sings, and you believe every word.
Check out their website: http://thedrums.com/
Image credit: http://thedrums.com/images/press4.jpg
1 http://pitchfork.com/news/36702-rising-the-drums/
2 http://www.bowerypresents.com/event/5122
