Feature: The Drones

So, I now know why writers keep little notebooks stashed about their persons; it keeps you from forgetting things like where you put the prune juice and whether or not you've left your glasses ontop of your head again.

In this vein, I totally had something interesting and meaningful to say about the state of music/a point to make on the debate going on over at http://www.x929.ca/shows/newsboy/?p=1417#comment-911 about whether or not the Calgary music scene is stagnating, but it seems to have vacated my brain like the concepts of simple human interaction, decency, and taste have vacated the mainstream music vending business. >.>

So, instead of ranting on about how the scene isn't stagnant, rather we've all gotten lazy and old and self-conscious about jumping around at shows, or about how The Noseholes could have been GREAT had they not broken up (unrelated, but it would've ended up in there anyway), I will instead suck it up like the BAMF I wish I was and tell you about The Drones.

First of all, The Drones are, indirectly, the reason why I joined this blog and consequently ended up keeping it limpingly, ever so slightly alive when Sheez and Phil jumped ship. And yes, I even suppose I knew about them back then, but it's all a little hazy in the manner of timing since it all happened when I was a doe-eyed, impressionable, and insatiably enthusiastic music hunter trying to track down literally every band mentioned by Kurt Cobain, ever.

No, he didn't mention the Drones, but we'll get to how the two are related.

Through this music-hunting process, I quickly began to realize that exposure wasn't always proportional to quality when it came to music, even in the indie community. Some bands would get huge just based on a good pitchfork review, and others would have their precious hopes dashed by a mediocre one. Some had good reviews and seemed to get the shaft anyway, while others had crap reviews and STILL had legions of fans (I'm looking at YOU, The Killers). This bothered me.

Thus, when I was offered a spot writing on the blog, I took it as a chance to help spread love of those bands whom I thought didn't get the kind of love they deserved (You'll remember that my first ever post was pushing The Wipers, who are still criminally overlooked even by punks who should know better). Of course, once it was only me writing and updating I couldn't just focus on that area, but I always thought about it anyway.

(See? I told you it'd all come together)

The Drones are just such a band. Despite generally favourable coverage by Rolling Stone and Pitchfork, you still have to go very far out of your way indeed to actually find a person in the real world who's heard of them. (As far as Australia, I believe, but don't quote me on that)

Maybe it's a case of a name affecting your chances, maybe just bad luck, but really, this band is wonderful. And no, they don't do sludge rock or rock out on the bagpipes, thanks for asking. Lyrically, their music is at times beer-soaked and at other times introspective, image-laiden and charmingly sung in a clearly Australian accent...on that note, it's frankly WONDERFUL to hear a band sing unabashedly the way they speak without trying to sound accessibly American. Jangly guitars create raucus Pixie-esque rockers to melodic, acoustic-friendly ballads (of the non-annoying variety). And best of all, the style changes between songs so that you never feel like you're listening to the same song on repeat for twenty minutes.

Lastly, it has staying power...the first time I heard 'Sharkfin Blues' from their "Wait Long By The River ..." album, I loved it. It's now been five years, and hearing it again, it's still just as lovable and brilliant as it was back in high school.

Odds are, if you go out and look for their albums in a record store, you probably won't have much luck finding a full selection. Luckily, the band also distributes the albums through their site directly, which I'd generally recommend people do anyway.

So, to sum up: this band is a) wonderful, b)underrated, and c)deserving of every penny and enthusiastic comment that may or may not convince them to include Canada in their journeys *hint hint* Check 'em out!

~Ju


The Drones can be found:

On the web: http://www.thedrones.com.au
On Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thedronesthedrones