FEATURED REVIEW.............................................................16 OCT 2006
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Artist:
THE DRAMS |
Jay Farrar starts a new band and resurrects his old band’s name; Brent Best resurrects his old band and gives them a new name. Whatever floats your boat.
To be fair, the Drams aren’t exactly Slobberbone. In addition to their sophomoric moniker, the original Slobberboners—Brent Best (vox, guitar), Jess Barr (guitar) and Tony Harper (drums)—lost bassist Brian Lane. Lane’s replacement on bass is former Budapest One frontman Keith Killoren, who brought along keyboardist Chad Stockslager for the project. The resulting “debut” album is Jubilee Dive (2006), a solid set of melodic roots rock.
Certainly the most noticeable difference between Slobberbone and the Drams is the decidedly poppy turn the band has taken. On a handful of songs—“Holy Moses,” “Fireflies,” “Shortsighted” and “Des Moines,” in particular—the new sound works reasonably well. Elsewhere, however, the boys from Denton come up a tad short. “September’s High” sounds like the Jayhawks covering an early-90s power ballad. Catchy, sure, but visions of Nelson may go dancing in your head. The album’s real clunker, however, is “You Won’t Forget” and its superfluous coda “You & Me, MF.” About halfway through the song, you’re hit with an overblown instrumental break that might have been lifted straight off Summerteeth. The similarities are uncanny—compare this sample of “You Won’t Forget” [REAL AUDIO] with the following snippet of Wilco’s “Pieholden Suite” [REAL AUDIO].
The album’s final track, “Wonderous [sic] Life,” meanwhile, has renewed an old debate here at the home office: are “megaphone vocals” inherently cheezy? Not being able to come to a definitive conclusion, we’ll withhold judgment and just issue the band a citation for misspelling “wondrous.”
Despite the album’s flaws, Best and the boys can still kick out the jams—“Truth Lies Low,” “Unhinged,” and “Make a Book” being among the album’s standout rockers. And, as usual, Best delivers his usual allotment of catchy couplets, complete with rapid-fire rhymes and incessant alliteration.
In summation: A solid effort. Quite listenable. Two cheezeballs for making us remember Nelson and that mess in the middle.
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A NOTE ON THE RATING SYSTEM:
5 CHEEZEBALLS = UNLISTENABLE SCHLOCK
3 CHEEZEBALLS = A DIFFICULT SLOG
1 CHEEZEBALL = THE ODD FORGIVABLE MISSTEP
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