Whenever a certain publication champions a band it is easy to write them off as a case of pure ‘style over substance’. In recent years mainstream indie has undeniably become stale and rather soulless. A multitude of copycat bands have been pumping lifeless and unexciting music under the banner of ‘indie’ for a good few years stagnating the very ethos of why most of us love indie guitar pop. Looking at Brooklyn band The Drums you would be forgiven for making that very assumption. This makes the quality of their debut full-length all the more surprising.

There is no doubt that The Drums are a band that wear their influences very much on their sleeve. However, instead of the same old clichéd influences adopted by most indie bands The Drums have decided to also look further afield. Yes they like The Smiths and Orange juice but they combine those with Scandinavian bands such as The Tough Alliance and The Embassy; the influence of the latter is abundantly clear on The Drums as almost every one of drummer Connor Hanwick’s beats could have been lifted straight off the cult Swedish band’s classic album Tacking. This blatant hat-tip brings, rather strangely, a sense of freshness to the token indie sound adopted in the guitar and basslines of the band. Instead of sounding like plagiarists they sound oddly original and yet retain that sense of nostalgia that any surf-pop leaning band are bound to.

Frontman Jonathan Pierce’s lyrics weave tails of sadness, summer and hope culminating in a very mixed mood. ‘Best Friend’ is an instantly classic tale of a dearly departed chum whilst ‘Forever and Ever Amen’ is pure pop perfection that shows the Pierce can be optimistic in his writing. His vocals are not the strongest, yet he sings with such passion and intent that his voice becomes alluring and endearing with retaining that sense of familiarity stamped throughout the album.

Some may say that The Drums are another unoriginal indie guitar band yet their debut offering proves that their familiar yet fresh approach to a worn out genre for a compelling and catchy debut, with a little help from our Swedish friends of course.