On Wednesday I went to a free RSVP event at hipster
mecca Brooklyn Bowl here in New York, which is half bowling alley and half concert venue. There
are giant HD TV screens on the walls, and you can hear the pins being knocked
down in the lanes as you’re standing by the stage waiting for bands. I watched
as some of the expectant audience nearby savagely devoured portions of fried
chicken and indulgent disco fries, and then greedily sucked the grease off
their fingers.
It was a Diet Coke and SPIN sponsored concert
featuring Chairlift and indie pop sensation The Drums, so staff made sure your
complimentary soft drinks were being refilled and that you got your free
magazine with its Best
Coast and Wavves summer
cover shot. At the same time, the corporate sponsors and the venue were more
than happy to delay the start of the show by an hour and a half, encouraging
patrons to splash out on more belly buster sandwiches and pricey cocktails,
with the monotonous thud of uninspired club music ensuring absolute
zombification.
First band Chairlift eventually came on, waifish singer
Caroline Polachek stood behind her keyboard in a midriff peasant top teamed
with a giant pair of palazzo pants and black platform boots, while the guys
wore the usual t-shirt and skinny jeans combo.
After the maddening boredom of the headache
inducing beat dropping earlier, Chairlift’s lightweight, airy pop didn’t do a
whole lot for me - as bland as baby food, with shades of Sarah McLachlan. You might remember them from “Bruises”, featured
on the TV ad that launched the 4th generation iPod nano a few years
ago, or then again, you might not… I’m sure they’re nice and sincere enough
about what they’re doing, but I honestly could not wait for them to get off.
Finally, after the slowest descent down a
backstage staircase EVER, The Drums made their appearance. If you are not a fan
it’s easy to see why they are written off as mere image-conscious victims of
the constantly spewing hype machine. Frontman Jonathan Pierce is like a Brat Pack
hunk out of a John Hughes movie with his blond bowl cut, ubiquitous red varsity
jacket and turned up jeans. Synth player Jacob Graham, bassist/guitarist Myles
Matheny of Violens fame and second
guitarist Charles Narwold are just as striking with their chiseled cheekbones,
edgy hairdos and carefully selected wardrobe pieces. You can almost imagine the
band’s audition process – good looks and a GQ styling assistant permanently
attached like the half-formed second head of a parasitic twin being primary
requirements for the job…But of course all these transparent judgments really don’t
matter when you get to know the music.
They may be pretty boys, but they are also
endearingly gawky and have a tendency to wear their hearts on their sleeves. A
few months ago, the band openly criticised North Carolina’s constitutional
amendment to ban gay marriage on their Facebook page, and when a homophobic fan
responded by wanting to return their records to them, they promptly offered him
a refund, as payment from him would be like "taking blood money” to them. This
is not the stance of a shallow pop band.
This same earnestness comes through in their
music, whether from a more laidback perspective with songs about summer days
with friends, or Jonny Pierce’s more recent rebellion against the religious
zealotry of his upbringing and resultant estrangement from his Evangelical
Christian parents.
I last saw The Drums at the HMV Forum in London in November 2010 supported by Margate’s great Two Wounded Birds, a
show which immediately followed the surprise departure of bassist and childhood
friend Adam Kessler, so they seemed a bit strained and unstable. There were
many highlights though, and despite being rough around the edges, it almost
seemed like a Beatles concert at times with the shrill female screaming and
declarations of love for Jonny.
Tonight they couldn’t have been more on form - the
bright, trebly guitar tone was clean and precise, the bouncy thump of Myles
Matheny’s bass was contagious, the synthesisers created a hypnotically moody
undercurrent, and Jonny himself sashayed like Morrissey and jittered like Ian
Curtis while sounding like neither. Because Jonny is best when he sounds like
Jonny and refrains from dropping into a low Ian Curtis baritone, and in the gap
between November 2010 and now, he seems to have honed his trademark dreamy falsetto
to perfection.
They rattled through "What You Were", the charming new wave
synthesiser swoon of “Best Friend”, the lonely pleas and swirling atmospherics of
“Me and the Moon”, and the melancholic and theatrical analogue synths of “If He
Likes It Let Him Do It” (a title which wouldn’t seem out of place on a Smiths
LP).
The darkness was then lifted by “Book of Stories”,
with that great beachy jangle sounding like a modern Pet Sounds outtake, and the
uplifting closer from 2nd album Portamento, “How It Ended”.
The chiming “Money”, with it’s fabulous driving
bassline, was an emotionally direct, sad singalong which easily resonated with
most people there, with it’s frustrated refrain of “I want to buy you
something/but I don’t have any money/no, I don’t have any money”.
Their only misstep came during “I Need a Doctor”,
their favourite song to play live, which was more like ‘I need a tuneup’ for Charles Narwold, and Jonny had some words in his ear and Narwold admitted with a smile
that it was ‘terrible’.
Well you can’t win them all (!), and they
redeemed themselves with the instantly likeable “Days” with its wistful longing
and the sleepy romanticism of its rhythmic bass strum.
The big crowd pleaser hit followed, indie smash
and summer anthem of 2009, “Let's Go Surfing”. Its appeal is instant and
undeniable - that chugging bass riff, that reverbed guitar, the catchy as fuck
whistling…At one point, I could have sworn Jonny changed the lyrics and
adlibbed “Obama, he’s gonna make it all better”, which I suppose is possible
given the outspoken nature of their political leanings.
They closed out with the giddy, soaring hooks of “The
Future” from their debut album, “And I’m aaaaaalways in your caaaaaaaage/set me
freeeeeeee…”
Love it or hate it, the music of The Drums is
blissful and freeing escapism, but is also not afraid to deal with harsh realities
in a sincere way, and their songs give me a yearning nostalgia for a lost time
in my life, even if it was just because they were the constant soundtrack of my
gloomy bus commute 2 years ago…But that’s the power of pop.
Setlist:
What You Were
Best Friend
Me and the Moon
If He Likes It Let Him Do It
Book of Stories
How It Ended
Baby That's Not the Point
Money
I Need Fun In My Life
I Need a Doctor
Days
Let's Go Surfing
The Future
What You Were
Best Friend
Me and the Moon
If He Likes It Let Him Do It
Book of Stories
How It Ended
Baby That's Not the Point
Money
I Need Fun In My Life
I Need a Doctor
Days
Let's Go Surfing
The Future
