Drowners
Self-Titled
Reviewed by: Melissa Komar
Drowners, the self-titled debut album of the band Drowners serves up a quick shot of twelve tracks that will leave you appreciative of the attempt to revive the success of poppy punk songs with twangy guitar riffs and lyrics ridden with coming of age angst and jealousy.
While the guitar and percussion are extremely upbeat and the lyrics are surely relevant and catchy, with some choruses being sung a minimum of three times within a two minute span, there’s musically something undeniably familiar here. Although it’s 2014, you may find yourself transported back to 2004 (I’ll avoid the overused Strokes and Smiths comparisons), circa the time The Killers met such commercial success with Hot Fuss and New York City based post-punk rock band Interpol developed a loyal following with Antics.
The album’s lead single, “Luv, Hold Me Down”, opens with simple percussion and guitar, but the simplicity makes for an enjoyable listen. You can see the girl in the skirt that drives all the boys crazy and can feel lead vocalist Matt Hitt’s unbridled desire when he croons, “So, hold me down and never let me go.” “You’ve Got it All Wrong” shows a classic case scenario of boy winning over girl by revealing the deceit of another boy, with the deceit being as simple as telling a joke wrong. Not exactly deep, but it’s definitely amusing in a “I’ve been that guy or girl” kind of way.
“Unzip Your Harrington” and “A Button on Your Blouse” are much slower in tempo, but still just as catchy as the faster paced tracks. “Pure Pleasure” seems to offer a glimpse at a couple’s first time of lovemaking and again, listeners are greeted with teenage awkwardness as Hitt sings, “I almost choked when you offered me a smoke of your cigarette.” While the album shows the sometimes gawkiness associated with teenage love, it also portrays the obsessive side on tracks such as “Well, People Will Talk”, when the protagonist of the song reveals, “I drove myself half to death wonderin’ about who you woke up with.”
The album ends with the same fast as a speeding bullet pace it opened with on concluding track “A Shell Across the Tongue”. We’re left with another image of boy and girl in a complicated situation, with the girl calling the boy out on selling-out. The boy responds with the lyrics, “Why would I lie to you?” and with these final lyrics, the album’s genuine attempt to be something different is again called in to question.
Despite Drowners’ all too familiar walk down post-punk musical lane, it’s catchy as much as it is poppy and it’s honest lyrics are as relatable as “the sweet caress of the familiar lower lip that starts on my neck.” And it’s all achieved in less than thirty minutes, leaving no time for you to skip tracks. As much as you may find yourself not liking it because it rips off other great bands, this is exactly what makes the album great and welcomed after nearly a decade of the early 2000s indie-rock and post-punk revival.
Rating: Bad-Ass
