As our creative landscape expands ever further, sprawling into the deepest corners of our mainstream psyches and burying itself into every aspect of culture, it’s pretty damn hard to find a sound you’ve never heard before.
Those of us who have been lucky enough to stumble upon some semblance of originality in music, however will notice one thing: originality is not drawn from thin air rather, it is gleamed from the amalgamation of influence. The Drools‘ Sullen Scenes is living proof of this beautiful combination.
Blues, grunge and alternative rock all come together in The Drools’ Sullen Scene to create a potent concoction of sounds never heard quite like this before.
The Drools are a band who seem to have discovered this holy grail of creative enlightenment. Rather than attempt to build sound from no foundation at all, the Perth 3 piece have managed to concoct a potent blend of blues, grunge and alternative flavours into something that sounds familiar, but is completely fresh.
This penchant for experimentation has led to the band’s fresh single, Sullen Scenes. The track serves as an intrepid escapade, scaling the summits of creativity and reaching the depths of swampy nostalgia while remaining joyous in its delivery.
The opening twangs of a crisp guitar sound as if the strings are being scraped along a metallic edge, but with musical clarity to boot. The recklessness of the guitar introduction soon blooms into a pinpoint arrangement; a three minute marathon, riding the shifting tides of separate movements that loosely bind to create one hell of a jam.
The Drools seem to have mastered the fickle combination of musical technicality and rock n’ roll release. The song shifts time signatures and feels with laser precision, while maintaining an air of grit that edges closer and closer on chaos as the track weaves it’s path into your consciousness.
According the the band, the name for this kind of unfamiliar mixture is “Indie Blunge” which goes some way to explain that reckless dirge and that bluesy charm, melting and oozing through the duration of the song like hot cheddar.
From the twang of the introductory bars, to the apocalyptic doom of the fuzzed out climaxes, it’s clear the guitar delivery takes a front seat in the delivery of this fantasy, although the rest of the ensemble ride alongside throughout, creating one hell of a sound.
There’s no doubt, Sullen Scenes is a deadly combination of genres that needs to be seen to be believed and, fortunately for some, The Drools will be heading out to celebrate its release across a number of dates. This is a band to watch and these will be shows not to miss.
Single Launch Dates:
May 28 – The Bird
June 3 – Odd Fellow
June 10 – Monkey Bar
