Bell Laboratories, formerly Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., the American telecommunications company founded by Alexander Graham Bell in 1925.
The discordant chimes of Bell Laboratories are the fervent crowd’s first taste of The Drums. In the dim lighting, Jonny Pierce murmurs the words in a manner befitting their eerie, threatening nature: ‘Get back in the car, get back in the car, get back in the car… But I ran so far.’ And the gloom doesn’t disperse with the next song. Indeed, the frank and brutal lyrics of Let Me (‘They might hate you, but I love you, and they can go kill themselves’) exaggerate the atmosphere of rage and resentment that The Drums have crafted. That seems to be what the Brooklyn outfit are about these days, following the release of their brash and eclectic third album, Encyclopedia.
The Drums have an uncanny knack of evoking emotion from seemingly innocuous songs. Something about Pierce’s raw, insightful lyricism and the combination of a driving bassline beneath more delicate compositional elements is truly beguiling, and has produced achingly beautiful songs such as Days, I Need a Doctor and the more upbeat Book of Revelation, all of which featured in Saturday night’s set.
Portamento, from Italian, meaning ‘carriage’ or ‘carrying’, the musical term that describes a slide in pitch from one note to another.
Again self-produced, Portamento, The Drums’ sophomore album, was an altogether more absorbing collection of songs. It garnered significant public attention and saw the band rise to prominence, albeit amid mixed critical reviews. Portamento solidified The Drums’ brand of taut, intricate guitar and signature tonal palette. As with their debut, Portamento also proved their ability to produce a cohesive, if somewhat self-indulgent, record.
After a hiatus in 2013, founding members Pierce and Jacob Graham reunited this year to produce The Drums’ third album. Encyclopedia, which was released in September, is less portamento and more capriccioso. It’s both angry and carefree; both ethereal and direct; both introspective and accusatory. On stage, Graham sways with the music, moving his head and hands in time. I Can’t Pretend floats into the audience; Pierce croons and wails, smiling and dancing lazily.
National park, an area dedicated to public recreation or set aside due to its historical or scientific significance. In the United States and Canada, national parks focus on the preservation of land, flora and fauna.
Encyclopedia is peculiar in that varies wildly in tone; the aggressive Magic Mountain sits ill at ease with the whimsical Wild Geese and US National Park, the latter of which features some of Pierce’s most raw and honest lyrics: ‘I don’t want to die alone by the campfire.’ Such tenderness juxtaposed against bitter anguish serves to illustrate the tense and volatile state of The Drums’ existence as a musical entity. Live, however, everything flows together with consummate ease, belying the tension and unrest that supposedly undercuts the band’s creative harmony.
Kiss Me Again, another of Encyclopedia’s highlights, bears the greatest resemblance to The Drums’ previous work, featuring that characteristic style of bassline and an infectious refrain. Alongside Money and a Summertime!-heavy encore featuring Let’s Go Surfing, Down By the Water and, pleasingly, Saddest Summer, it was among the night’s most remarkable moments.