THE DRUMS (2010)

Catchy, charming, simple, and very, very immediate, The Drums's long-awaited self-titled debut traffics in the exact same narrow stylistic niche the band first unveiled on 2009/2010 Internet singles like Let's Go Surfing, Best Friend and Forever And Ever Amen (all included here).

The spare 80s-flavored sound and vocal styling hearken back to pure Staring At The Sea: The Singles early Cure magic, but the slight surfer vibe and shockingly innocent (for today at least) malt-shop romance lyrics feel culled straight from an even older reference point, The Beach Boys's Endless Summer.

It's a disarming, consistent, and at times quite appealing combination, capable of generating a warm emotional response in the listener similar to that produced by Girls's '09 release Album, though overall, The Drums is not nearly as strong, varied or genuinely personal as that one-of-a-kind release.

I have no idea what these boys will do for encore, (even over its relatively brief twelve songs, one feels the formula's pretty tapped out by album's end), but if you are looking for a super easy, upbeat listen that will just make you feel good, I'd give The Drums a try.

Status: Solid Recommend.

Cherry Picker's Best Bets: Let's Go Surfing, Book Of Stories, Skippin' Town, I Need Fun In My Life.

Here's the amusing official video for Best Friend.



Component Breakdown:
1. Best Friend - 7
2. Me And The Moon - 7
3. Let's Go Surfing - 9
4. Book Of Stories - 8
5. Skippin' Town - 8
6. Forever And Ever Amen - 8
7. Down By The Water - 7
8. It Will All End In Tears - 6
9. We Tried - 7
10. I Need Fun In My Life - 8
11. I'll Never Drop My Sword - 7
12. The Future - 7
Intangibles - Above Average



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