Anti-Everyting Surrey Punk
I would imagine that Surrey is full of angry young men, but Daly George (Guitars and Vox), James Kerr (Bass) and Mitchell Thomas (Drums) are three young men angry enough to gang up on Surrey's music scene, rob its lunch money and buy enough studio time to record their debut punk album, Mutiny.
One listen to the album and 11 songs later, I am now also pretty angry. Mutiny is fuelled by the relentless stroke of distorted guitar, emphatic blasts of bass/drums and high pitched yelling of phrases like "If we fall, we fall as one," "If we fall we fall as blackhearts" and "don't fall as mindless drones" (which placed together like this are pretty ironic.) The usual tropes of punk music aside, Drones are a steadfast band who work well as one cohesive unit to communicate their interpretation of Britain through punk.
Don't get me wrong here, I don't dislike the band. They've taken their own social and political beliefs and crafted a musical storm around them which is what all good punk bands should do. Starting from obscurity and propelling themselves forward solely by their own musical passion is a great message to send out and a dramatically oversized feather in the band's cap.
However, Drones note Anti-Flag and Rise Above among their influences and rightfully so. If you had played me the lead single Assassins of Youth and told me it was the new Anti-Flag single, I would have believed you. Whether this is a good or a bad thing, a nod in the direction of my ignorance or simply emphasis on the theory that mainstream punk has become stagnant and standardised, we can only decide after a long hard drunken debate. What I can tell you, is that between Anti-Flag and Drones, I would rather listen to the three angry young men from Surrey who scream at me about my own socio-political problems rather than a band which in my mind has become synonymous with the now over inflated American punk machine.
Recommended tracks include, Assassins of Youth, Jack Won't and Mutiny. Mutiny is out now on Lockjaw Records.