The Drowns – Lunatics 12″ EP (Pirates Press Records)

Pirates Press surprised us with a couple of new titles. Today’s guests on our pages are no strangers, and I had a chance to review their second full-length a couple of years ago. The Drowns blew me away with an exciting mixture of streetpunk, punk rock, and rock’n’roll that comes like a direct slap in the face. That particular album possesses everything I dearly love about punk rock music, and it’s hard to find any bad moments in a batch of excellent songs. The band is back with a new 12″ extended play release, heavily promoted with singles such as Live Like Yer Dying and Lunatics. It comes out in less than a week, so you better head to the Pirates Press web store and pre-order your copy.

Lunatics 12″ is a specific material that showcases the versatility of The Drowns. It’s unquestionably a gamechanger in their career because the band moves towards rock’n’roll sound with such ease. They kept punk rock aggression, attitude, and energy as a primary weapon of choice, but it also seems they wanted to pay homage to the genre that is dear and near to their hearts, and that’s pure, high-octane rock’n’roll. Of course, they nailed each composition, and the best part is that this style suits them well. If you expected some progressive, psychedelic, space-rock music, please skip this record because The Drowns are into straightforward rock’n’roll music empowered with excellent chord progressions, riffs, cleverly assembled basslines, and dynamic rhythm maneuvers.

Lunatics comes much closer to that mid-50s to late-60s American and British garage rock that perfectly goes with classic punk rock and streetpunk sound. You may notice how the greats like MC5, Slade, KISS, Thin Lizzy, New York Dolls, and The Clash inspired these guys to write, compose and record six excellent songs that will give you chills down the spine if you’re profoundly into loud rock’n’roll music. There’s also a healthy dosage of Bovver rock and glam lurking around, but The Drowns are not overwhelming their primary sonic direction. Each song possesses excellent structure and arrangements, and these guys invested nothing but heart, soul, brilliant ideas, and exquisite musicianship into these numbers. You should check out Lunatics EP if you’re looking out for the 50s and 60s rock’n’roll enhanced with modern production. Lunatics comes on 12″ vinyl in several different variants. Head over to Pirates Press and grab your favorite one.