The Drums @ HMV Institute, 28th November 2011
If I’m honest, I’d completely forgotten I was supposed to be reviewing this gig. Partly because I must have requested it months ago, but partly because The Drums seemed to have gone quiet since they emerged last year with their handful of indie hits and whistle-along melodies. Their second album Portamento is in the shops, albeit to little fanfare, and apart from recent single ‘Money’ I hadn’t heard a peep from them. But I’m glad I was reminded, as I had a lot of fun at the HMV Institute with the hipster kids.
Not only was I surprised to be reviewing at all on monday night, but I found out on the day that the main support for the night was Cloud Control, the best live band I’ve seen this year. But before I could take advantage of this happy coincidence I had to check out first support act The History of Apple Pie. My first reaction was disappointment. There was no apple pie. But once that had subsided I listened to their music and my actual reaction was one of… well, disappointment.
Support act sound is almost always ropey, so it was no surprise to me that with three distorted guitars playing the same power chords over a dirty bassline that the resulting noise was a sludgy blast of white noise. Sound apart, T-HAP (as I’m naming them) do have some promise. A female-led, five-piece playing fuzzed up, shoe-gazey tunes reminded me of The Breeders at first and this is no bad thing. Unfortunately they had none of the pop hooks to keep things interesting, instead plowing on with the powerful but repetitive drone of their guitars, drowning out any melody that might have been coming from lead singer Stephanie Min’s mic. They deserve a listen, but this wasn’t the night for them.
Next up were Cloud Control who I’d reviewed on their headline show in the intimate surrounds of The Rainbow earlier this year. It’s fair to say I was looking forward to them having discovered their debut album Bliss Release and enjoyed it massively. It was to my surprise that a fair chunk of the crowd knew who they were too, and for a support slot had the crowd pretty much on their side from the first note. The Aussie four-piece are a likabel bunch. The lead singer was chatty from the off, throwing a pound coin he’d found in the car park into the crowd for one lucky punter. This likability helped everyone in the room warm to their music, especially after the earlier sonic assault.
The band’s sound is a mix of plucked guitars and bouncy bass that evolve into crunchy walls of noise with pulsating basslines, backed by a selective use of soaring synth. Opener Meditation Song #2 (Why, Oh, Why) has all of these elements and shows off Cloud Control’s clever use of song structure and dismissal of overused indie trends. Similarly Death Cloud packs power and raging feedback, but never gets out of hand, and There’s Nothing in the Water We Can’t Fight brought a bit of epic, widescreen pop to the party. The stand out track on the night was Gold Canary, which got a great reception, no doubt helped by its airtime on BBC 6Music. The song builds from a hushed chant to a synthy sci-fi interlude, to a joyful anthemic end. It’s not your usual floor-filler, and they know it, but it’s nonetheless effective.
The main event though was The Drums, whose stage lights were set so low it made the room feel much smaller and more intimate. The effect was not a bad one, as when they finally emerged we really felt close to the action. Lead singer Jonathan Pierce has a bit of reputation as a showboat and, at least early on in his fame, was a bit of a quote machine for the music press. There were no signs of this tonight however, as he seemed genuinely happy to be playing to the not-quite-full house in Digbeth.
Having only heard one of The Drums’ new batch of songs I was intrigued to see if they’d developed from their stripped down set up of guitar, bass, synth and drums. After a few trademark up-tempo bouncers it was clear they hadn’t moved on much in scope, but it didn’t seem to matter. The simplicity of The Drum’s sound is their main appeal. You can put them on in and indie club and guarantee to get people up and dancing. There’s no pyrotechnics or gimmicks, just fast-paced indie, cool clothes and haircuts. A lot of people want that in a band and The Drums deliver it.
The Drums mixed old and new effectively and seeing as a lot of it sounded similar the gig felt like it had few slow moments or duff tracks to cool the audience’s reaction. As a band they’re very tight, and only recent single Money felt like it was sliding off the rails a bit, but mainly due to its double-speed tempo than anything else. In fact, for a band that had lost and replaced two members recently, The Drums’ material gels surprisingly well. In their older material such as Best Friend and Me and The Moon, the band mix surf guitar, The Strokes’ New York indie, with sprinklings The Smiths, Joy Division, and Echo and the Bunnymen, albeit in a happy, made-for-the-indie-disco, way. The newer stuff took off straight from this point, adding more synth and a slightly more expansive sound to the pot, but nothing that was instantly obvious or distracting. Stand out track of the set was Forever and Ever Amen, the closest the band get to being anthemic.
Pierce was effusive and generous in his thanks but his chat got no further than introducing his new bandmates to the Monday-night crowd, who judging by their new constant jumping and bobbing were having a blast. The only disappointment for the gathered fashionistas and indie kids was the absence of The Drums’ two most recognisable hits Skippin’ Town, and Let’s Go Surfing. The fact they didn’t play them, not even in the encore, either shows a band confident of their new material or one wanting to make a break from the past. The show would no doubt have been improved by these tracks, so I’d be more inclined to think the latter.
Review – Ian Ravenscroft
Photos – Steve Gerrard