What we have here is a box of exploding chocolates. A cherry bomb hidden in a bowl of fruit. And more to the point, a love letter sent to that girl who never returned your calls. The best power pop music has always been like that, sweet and infectious on the outside and bitter and resentful on the inside, just like love and real life. The DROWNERS play that kind of power pop, but with the emphasis on POWER. The guitars are brash. The bass and drums rumble. The melancholy strings are a little younger, a little louder and a little more likely to kick her new boyfriend's ass.
While The Drowners are certainly new masters of a proud tradition, one listen to their album and you will hear that tradition being smacked around until it becomes a fresh idea. IS THERE SOMETHING ON YOUR MIND? will attract you with a touch of familiarity, but like any worthwhile listening experience, you'll always end up hearing something different. Something like the difference between Cleveland, Ohio, and Skellefteå, Sweden. Now, we all know that Cleveland is the birthplace of Rock & Roll, but how many of you know that Skellefteå is a small city near the Arctic Circle with some of the most extreme weather conditions known to man? Skellefteå is also the birthplace of The Drowners and home to a very interesting music scene of its own.
Being cold and dark from October to April with temperatures as low as -30°F and only two hours of daylight, believe it when guitarist Leif Rehnström tells you "that can really fuck you up." Many Skellefteåns must undergo intense light therapy to avoid depression. The five members of The Drowners decided to channel their darker impulses into a much more creative endeavor, adding a crisp edge to their pure pop influences. Judging by their lyrics alone, they certainly have better things to be depressed about than the weather ("I'd sell my soul for a couple of phone calls").
The first single Is There Something On Your Mind? is about two friends who were very much in love but never told each other. One Star features backing vocals from Ken Stringfellow of the Posies who's also heard on Bellingham, a tribute to the Posies written in the great tradition of bands saluting their heroes (the Replacements' "Alex Chilton" to name but one). Another key guest appearance is made by Veruca Salt's Louise Post on Postello, a beautiful, eerie duet about fearing the unknown. Virus is an extremely catchy song about those other extremely catchy songs that just won't let you go, proving that the vicious cycle of pure pop will continue to feed itself. And like the band's name suggests, songs such as Death Has Never Been A Friend Of Mine and Seasonal Affective Disorder are about holding on for dear life.
Once again it all comes down to classic songs and their eternal themes, love and loss, boy and girl, pleasure and pain and as Leif's description of Summer Break My Fall so perfectly sums up "another song about surviving the winter and dreaming of summer". That's something they can even relate to in Cleveland.
The Drowners have released two albums in Sweden, DESTROYER and WORLD RECORD PLAYER, the latter featuring a Swedish Top 10 single with an early version of "Summer Break My Fall." Although released only in their home country, both of these records found their way onto the stereos of more than one "in-the-know" US (and beyond) pop fan.
Recorded in Los Angeles with producer Matt Hyde (Monster Magnet, Porno For Pyros), IS THERE SOMETHING ON YOUR MIND? is a refreshing blast of soaring guitars, crashing drums and sugar-sweet harmonies lighting the fuse on that exploding box of chocolates. Big, bright and full of dark surprises, this record is like an overworked mailman - it delivers from beginning to end.From The Beatles to Björk, sometimes the most original music comes from the most unlikely places. Now it's time to circle Skellefteå on your map and welcome The Drowners to our side of the world.
