If you feel like not taking life too seriously, then I highly suggest you start googling The Drums. They’re pretty awesome and as musically refreshing as a cold drink on a summer day.

The brainchild of bestfriends Jonathan Pierce and Jacob Graham, the band was dubbed by NME as ‘New York's official coolest new band’ early this year. The band’s popularity spread through the New York music scene by word-of-mouth ever since they set up a regular gig at a small club on the Lower East side.

The band is all about having fun and their sunny optimism is evident in Summertime! (Twenty Seven Records, 2009) - a six-song collection that could easily be a soundtrack to any vintage beach party from the 60s. Heck, even maybe the 80s if you’re feeling all synthed-up. They’re infectiously upbeat; it doesn’t matter what they make you think of: if The Beach Boys ever made an electronic record, a less complicated version of The Stone Roses, or how Joy Division would sound like if they ever made a sunnier, happier album.

Perhaps Pierce and Graham summed their music up perfectly in their official website… ‘We only write about two feelings: one is the first day of summer when you and all of your friends are standing on the edge of a cliff watching the sun set and being overcome with all of your hopes and dreams at once. The other is when you're walking alone in the rain and realize you will be alone forever.’

They may be right on the first feeling, though. The album opens with the bouncy and hyperactive ‘Saddest Summer.’ Despite the title, the lyrics already reel you in for the rest of the ride (Summer’s just beginning, baby / I might learn to hate you, lady / One week and you’re acting crazy / I might have to hate you, baby). The exuberant ‘Make You Mine’ will make for some hand-clapping and whistling, while ‘Let’s Go Surfing’ will make you hit repeat over and over. There are about three other remixes of the song, each one as merry as the others.

Don’t it feel like you’re digging your feet in the sand already? This band is a pure delight to listen to with their strange, synth-laden brand of breezy surf pop. They are relentlessly cheerful, and would make you believe that the sun will always shine and there’s always a perfect wave to ride. It’s almost out of season to even recommend them as a listen-to, now that the winds are much chillier and nights are longer, but this charming NYC band will make you dream about the summer and all its sun-drenched glory.

Pop in the CD, keep the car windows down, put on your Wayfarers, and let the American indie band The Drums take you for a ride.

Rating: 4/5

- Meg Cabanes

Links:
http://www.wearethedrums.com
http://www.myspace.com/thedrumsforever

Similar Artists: New Order, Joy Division, The Smiths, The Postal Service, The Stone Roses, The Beach Boys