Drummer

Drummer
@ Pilot Light, Knoxville, October 15
by Andrew Clayman
Published in The Metro Pulse, October 2009

Paired up on tour with their chums and labelmates Royal Bangs, Drummer is a new five-piece Akron, Ohio, collective comprised entirely, as you might have guessed, of drummers looking to spread their wings outside the kit. It’s no criticism of the band’s music to say that their bass player—Black Keys drummer and Audio Eagle label head Pat Carney—is the main reason for the quick buzz they’ve generated around their debut CD, Feel Good Together. But fans expecting to hear a Black Keys sort of sound (as Dan Auerbach generally provided on his recent solo album) will be in for quite the surprise here.

Carney, Steve Clements (keyboard, vocals), Jon Finley (guitar, vocals), Jamie Stillman (guitar), and Gregory Boyd (the one stuck with the drums)—all veterans of the Northeast Ohio music scene—are no slouches at their new instruments, but their tastes are clearly rooted more in ’70s power-pop and ’90s indie rock than Zeppelin-esque blues. The results, while not earth-shatteringly original, tap into a distinctly Midwestern everyman brand of alt-rock as best exemplified in the past by the likes of Dayton’s Guided by Voices. Other obvious indie touchstones include Built to Spill, Pavement, and a dash of the Replacements, but these drummers throw enough curveballs (such as the occasional dueling synthesizer) to keep things interesting and upbeat.

All in all, Drummer appears to be a side project with some staying power, and a tag-team bill with Royal Bangs pretty much makes this a must-see show.