Photo: Enda Johnston
Info: Kildare indie-rock four-piece Drivelight released their debut EP Estates at the end of last month, made up of Fionn Phelan (vocals), Rob Fortune (guitar), Adam Dunne (bass) and Ross Daly (drums), the collection of four tracks was recorded at Westland Studios.
In our August review of lead single 'Obvious' we noted that one of the bands influences The Arctic Monkeys had left their mark on that first release which is surrounded by a pop-punk edginess and an exasperating tempo. When you take Estates as a whole though it's good to see that Drivelight haven't merely stuck to a singular formula in terms of the other tracks on the EP.
On 'One Horse Town' they are more sedate at the outset, saving their energy for the chorus, and it's also the first time you note that the band's lyrics reflect their own environmental experiences which again appears in the theme of following track 'Lakeside Park' which is very much in the mould of local peers Otherkin in terms of delivery. There is a nice combination of guitar riffs, hooks and manic drumming, all of which are indicative of how they would come across on stage.
Closing track 'Really Wanna Go' has an endearing pop-punk swagger, with the band keeping it simple but tight, whilst they don't sound like either on it, stylistically it conjures an image of The Ramones' 'Hey! Ho! Let's Go'. Estates is a lot of fun, at times its rawness is overt, with the young Kildare band perhaps still in the process of refining their sound, which of course is allowed. On the other hand they have an addictive and passionate modus operandi, and lead single 'Obvious' is a tasty glimpse of what may lie ahead, ones to keep tabs on for sure.
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SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/drivelight
Twitter: https://twitter.com/drivelightmusic
