Brookyln-based surf rockers The Drums hinted at a bleaker sound for their self-titled debut after the release of their Summertime! EP (which two of the album songs are from), and they certainly weren't kidding. Album opener and first single "Best Friend" begins with John Pierce "You were my best friend but then you died". Although the song is still poppy and upbeat despite being so morbid. "Lets Go Surfing" declares the band's love of the surf, how important it is to them, and masterfully incorporates a childhood rhyme into it all-in-one. "Skippin' Town" continues to illustrate the complicated relationship established in "Me and the Moon" and "Book of Stories" with lyrics like "I know you're trying to kiss me/I know you're trying to kill me" and "Do you want me to skip town?/Do you want me to come 'round?" "Down By The Water" marks a total change in mood and is the first truly melancholic sounding track on the album which actually contrasts the lyrical content where reaffirms his eternal love that he first declared in the preceeding"Forever and Ever Amen". "I'll Never Drop My Sword" is another interesting song in that it features the acoustic guitar for the first time on the album (even if just got the intro).
The Drums' debut manages to stick with their characteristic surf pop sound while also branching away from strickly beach blanket pop songs about surfing. Instead they prove that not all is sunshine and summer fun although its hard to tell that from the tempo and mood of the songs alone, instead when you listen to the lyrics you get a sense of what the songs are really about. The album progresses much like an on-again/off-again relationship would with tracks like "Me And The Moon", "Book of Stories", "Skippin' Town" and "It Will All End in Tears" serving as conflict/break up songs; "Lets Go Surfing", "Forever and Ever Amen" and "Down By The Water" as reconciliation songs; "We Tried" "I Need Fun In My Life" and "I'll Never Drop My Sword" are post-break up songs. "Best Friend" serves as kind of an reflection/explanation, albeit a vague good one, on the events that are elaborated on in the following songs while "The Future" can be seen as prediction or actual realization of the couple getting back together despite not being right for each other.
Enjoy the video for the first single off The Drums "Best Friend":
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