Chris’ Corner “Portamento” By: The Drums
Every once in a while, there comes an album that just completely takes me by surprise. Judging an album from the cover or track list names is something that we are all guilty of in this streaming age. “Portamento” by The Drums is one of those albums I would dismiss just from the cover thinking that it had nothing to offer me. What a mistake that would have been, as it is right up my alley. A combination of 80’s New Wave mixed with the lyrical longing and dramatic and dreary guitars and synthesizers of Joy Division. I kept drawing comparisons between this album and Control. My love for that album and that genre was the driving force for getting into this album. In fact, all it took was hearing one song from the album to convince me to run out to my local record store and buy the full album.
I find this to be one of the best ways to digest an album. Forcing yourself to listen to a full LP from front to back helps the listener to decide what it is about each song that they like and what they do not like. This album is extremely bleak with lyrics such as “You hit me yesterday /Because I made you cry /So before we die, I'd like to do something nice” on the song Money. So if I listen to this album I find it best to turn off all the lights and lay with my eyes. That is what I think the gist of this week's writing is about, finding an album that you really like and not knowing much about the band but just jumping head first in. There is really no better feeling in music, to be fully engrossed in a new album from start to finish. You never know where it is going to take you.
The Drums was unofficially formed by friends Jonathan Pierce and Jacob Graham when they were around the age of 11 at bible camp. Much later on the band was officially formed and they released their self-titled LP “The Drums” which received some positive attention. Though not a huge commercial success the album definitely favored well with critics and wetted their appetites for what was to come next. Their follow up “Portamento” honed in on the pessimistic pop that had become synonymous with the band. This kind of melding of self-loathing and self confidence fits with the aesthetic the band is going for. And confident they were, the band was known for being outspoken proponents for themselves, especially their lead singer Jonathan Pierce who just released their fifth album “Brutalism” as a solo artist in 2019. The music and the creators of that music continue to perform bleak and melancholic music with a catchy and compulsive undertone that you can’t help but admire. So, if you do want to check them out after reading this I would recommend the album “Portamento” but if you don’t have time I would recommend Book of Revelations, Money, Searching for Heaven, If He Likes It, Let Him Do It.