Hype - rventilate #1: The Drums

This is a recurring section where I will decide the fate of new-ish music becoming desperately close to being over hyped before they've earned their keep.

Example:
Vampire Weekend = succeed
MGMT = fail

This is the litmus test of whether this band is cool enough to like.

I'm being serious.




NME names The Drums New York's coolest new band!

The kiss of death!? Nothing cool can be so well received by such a douchey publication...right?

With quotes like:

"We only write about two feelings: one is the first day of summer when you and all of your friends are standing on the edge of a cliff watching the sun set and being overcome with all of your hopes and dreams at once. The other is when you're walking alone in the rain and realize you will be alone forever."

It seems easy to cast aside The Drums as another Brooklyn 1950's sappy pop apologist. In fact, The Drums didn't even start in Brooklyn. They moved there from Florida because they weren't getting enough opportunities.

And we've seen this juxtaposition of pure joy and angst bundled together with the right amount of sarcasm before. Remember that little album from a lesser known group called Girls?

However...tracks like "Down by the Water", "Submarine", and "I Wanna Go Surfing" reveal varied influences and subtle elements ranging from 80 New Wave synth, modern shoe gaze, and of course 1950's pop respectively.

While The Drums are kind of late to the party, they don't sound like they're ripping off last years rip offs. These are new permutations of new rip offs.

The interesting thing about waves is that their music is more complex than their descriptions of their music, which is kind of rare.

So The Drums are a succeed. I decree that it is ok to enjoy this band. Hype Away!

Damn!

Down By The Water