The Drums have been good to me. I fell hard for them with the release of the 'Summertime' EP which I had in my basket from US Amazon before my first play of 'Let's Go Surfing' had even finished, in October 2009. In 2010, the debut full-length self-titled album followed. And beyond my wildest dreams, the second album 'Portamento' followed in September 2011. In the gap between playing 'The Drums' to death and 'Portamento's release, I sought out anything I could that Jonny Pierce had had a hand in.
Founding members of The Drums, Jonny Pierce and Jacob Graham, started out as 'Goat Explosion' (with a name like that, how could success not have followed...[!]). Thankfully preserved on Youtube, their electro-pop bears Pierce's unmistakeable vocal and familiar Morrissey-esque, angular, stylings (Goat Explosion- I'm Always Alone). With the likes of 'Why Don't You Say' further compounding the Morrissey links with lyrics worthy of Moz himself-
'Why don't you say to me
that you love me?
Why don't you say to me
that you care?
Why don't you say to me
that you need me more than anything ?
Do you believe me, oh, can you see me?
They used to tell me, if I just wait and see
Something good will come back to me
Oh, there's no more waiting, so they just might be wrong'
that you love me?
Why don't you say to me
that you care?
Why don't you say to me
that you need me more than anything ?
Do you believe me, oh, can you see me?
They used to tell me, if I just wait and see
Something good will come back to me
Oh, there's no more waiting, so they just might be wrong'
Already in thrall to Jonny Pierce through 'The Drums', every 'Goat Explosion' song only served to convince me that he was the real, genuine article- a bona fide pop genius. 'Elkland' followed, and released the album 'Golden'. While it didn't work out for the band, apparently a case of 'too much, too soon' with a contract signed and the involvement of a label-
"Well, Elkland was kind of a big disaster from the very beginning. I'd written a bunch of songs that I really loved and had these demos. I was pretty young when we got signed and that whole thing came out of nowhere. One minute I was living in upstate New York recording songs and six months later I had a major record deal, and it kind of forced me to move to New York City. And I said yes to a bunch of things that I didn't really understand. I let a lot of things fall out of my hands and into the hands of people I didn't really know or trust. When you don't really have a foundation it's very easy for things to fall apart, and it did just that". (Jonny Pierce, Death and Taxes)
As before it's a very synth-y affair, but inevitably with more of a commercially viable pop-sensibility. Elkland- I Need You Tonight ('D.I.S.C.O, that's where I want to go'!). Very 80's, British pop/new-wave sounding, traditionally structured- verse/chorus/verse. As mentioned before, I loved The Drums for what they were but to discover this cache of equally outstanding songs was a revelation, especially given the surprising and unexpected difference in style. There's still an element of it in The Drums, but to so overtly be channelling the likes of The Smiths, Joy Division, Orange Juice, etc, I couldn't have invented a band better suited to me.
By the time The Drums materialised, the synths had been muted for a more 'indie band' sound, other influences had emerged- '50s and '60s American girlgroup pop, namely The Shangri-La's. The lyrical template was the same. Honest, heartfelt, yearning songs ranging from sweetly love-lorn to downright mopey, but set to bouncy, upbeat melodies. The perfect vehicle for Jonny Pierce to display his best indie-disco, Ian Curtis dancing and take centre stage- 'Forever And Ever Amen', 'Me and The Moon'.
Just when 2012 was looking to remain distinctly Pierce-less, a Tweet on November 28th drew attention-
@JonnyPierce: a new chapter begins tomorrow...
Lo and behold, the next day he announces a solo album for 2013 and debuts the track 'I Didn't Realise'.
"Some might say it’s strange for a man to bare his soul the way I do on
this album, but I wanted to do something that exposed
me for who I am even more so than anything I have done with The Drums… I
wanted to be as self-indulgent as possible with this album. This is pop
done the way I think it should be done".
A return to the sparse, twitchy, bleeping electronica of Goat Explosion, reverb, and a typical lyrical theme of rejection, regret, lamentation... The black and white video adding to the washed-out vibe of the music, elements dreamily floating in and out.
'Just when I thought I knew what was going on... you cut my heart out'
'What do you do, when everything is not enough?'
'Forgive me... for the faith I had in us'.
Probably in its short existence still manages to be my most played track of 2012.
As before it's a very synth-y affair, but inevitably with more of a commercially viable pop-sensibility. Elkland- I Need You Tonight ('D.I.S.C.O, that's where I want to go'!). Very 80's, British pop/new-wave sounding, traditionally structured- verse/chorus/verse. As mentioned before, I loved The Drums for what they were but to discover this cache of equally outstanding songs was a revelation, especially given the surprising and unexpected difference in style. There's still an element of it in The Drums, but to so overtly be channelling the likes of The Smiths, Joy Division, Orange Juice, etc, I couldn't have invented a band better suited to me.
By the time The Drums materialised, the synths had been muted for a more 'indie band' sound, other influences had emerged- '50s and '60s American girlgroup pop, namely The Shangri-La's. The lyrical template was the same. Honest, heartfelt, yearning songs ranging from sweetly love-lorn to downright mopey, but set to bouncy, upbeat melodies. The perfect vehicle for Jonny Pierce to display his best indie-disco, Ian Curtis dancing and take centre stage- 'Forever And Ever Amen', 'Me and The Moon'.
Just when 2012 was looking to remain distinctly Pierce-less, a Tweet on November 28th drew attention-
@JonnyPierce: a new chapter begins tomorrow...
Lo and behold, the next day he announces a solo album for 2013 and debuts the track 'I Didn't Realise'.
A return to the sparse, twitchy, bleeping electronica of Goat Explosion, reverb, and a typical lyrical theme of rejection, regret, lamentation... The black and white video adding to the washed-out vibe of the music, elements dreamily floating in and out.
'Just when I thought I knew what was going on... you cut my heart out'
'What do you do, when everything is not enough?'
'Forgive me... for the faith I had in us'.
Probably in its short existence still manages to be my most played track of 2012.
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