Drexel

Drexel, Hailing from Boston, MA., Has been around for ages - but for resons unknown to the author, has never seemed to gain the attention they rightly deserve. Perhaps because it's difficult to describe them - and indeed this could be the biggest reason you'll love them. Or, the biggest reason you'll hate them. If I was absolutely forced to explain them, I'd say "Artsy Punk". Maybe because (I think) there's a few degrees in Music from Boston's Berkley powering this band.

Marc - who translates to maybe Jeff Highway - used to be in Big D, but that's about all the background I can give you - they've always used fake names.

The fourth release to date, The Inevitable Is Available, showcases an experimental side - but moreso maybe they were just trying to do something different. Like, for instance, not naming any of their songs. This bugs me, personally - as I like to know what a song is, you know, called. Maybe you'll like the concept.

Anyway, that aside - the album really does rock out. The band has come a long way, musically, sense Shot By Lami. They're a band who's always changing their sound, but it's always been a steady constant change, not some sporadic "conforming with the standards" type thing.

This album also has, in my opion, the absolute perfect blend between production and rough edges. I say this mainly because it seems like the bulk of the production work went into making the whole album an experience rather then just a collection of songs. As opposed to spending all the time trying to work out perfect guitar tones. That's not what I look for in punk anyway - The rough energy is what does it for me. So with that, I'm pleased.

The songs flow together with weird interludes like a punkrock dj who's been chugging vodka. Atari's beep in the background with confused vocal clips and overdistorted drums layered into the mix right before the rock - and classic screams of Creek Johnson kick in.

Grab this album up - It's a refreshing assault of punk overlayed with awesome songwriting borrowing the best elements of many other styles.

Okay - Highlight of this album: First of all, it rocks. You will want to turn the volume all the way up and rock out to it. Over and over and over again. and, I really like the way this album seems to be more theme based then an album you judge on individual songs. Unfortunately this is a double edged sword:

Lowpoints: The massive disinformation behind this band, and album is starting to get to me. Before, it was never really a big deal that the band members didn't put their real names or anything, but you can now consider the envelope officially pushed - The album has no linear notes, no song names, not even the fake member names listed - and if you follow the URL they give you - you get a massive collection of "Not Finished Yet"'s and even a broken guestbook. Whatever though, juding a band on it's image is, all in all, pretty stupid - so I'll just assume they have some terribly dark secret to protect.