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The Drowns – Under Tension

Pirates Press Records

 

Last year Seattle’s outfit The Drowns took me by surprise with their excellent, double A-sided single “The Sound” for Pirates Press Records! The two, exclusively recorded, tracks definitely had me craving for more and after being teased with the “Hold Fast”/”Demons” single (more on that later), more is finally here with the release of the band’s sophomore album “Under Tension”!

 

Just as their was on that “The Sound” 45, there’s also a whole lot going down on this fairly brilliant album! A variety of influences and the usage of dual lead-vocals, mingle into one big melting pot of Oi!, punk rock and rock ‘n’ roll – about to make sure that jaws will drop the floor throughout the different types of scenes and subcultures this world is rich, mark my words!

 

Because whether you like the Street Dogs, Swingin’ Utters, The Beltones, Off With Their Heads or even a British outfit such as The Buzzcocks, there sure as hell are two or three songs on this slab of wax you will instantly love. And for the rest? The rest is so damn catchy that you will be hooked to the remainder of the tracks after a single spin as well! The mix of vocals between Aaron with his gruff, mean vocals and Andy with his clean, more melodic vocals is highly appealing as well and gives “Under Tension” an extra dimension – love it!

 

Favorite tracks are “Them Rats”, “Wolves On The Throne”, “Hold Fast”, “Demons”, “Wastin’ Time”, “Cue The Violins” and last – though certainly not least – “Battery Street”. But in all honesty, this album is pure punk rock gold from start to finish and kind of hard to lay down once you start listening to it – highly addictive to say the least!

 

Now prior to this release, Pirates Press Records released two tracks off the album (namely “Hold Fast” and “Demons”) as a single. As I received both the album and all versions of the single at the same time, it was kind of pointless to review the single as well – but I do want to mention it, as your favorite pirates really put in the works on both versions and look fairly stunning. The 12” version (500 copies, sold out as I write this) was pressed on clear vinyl, but has both tracks on the A-side, while the B-side is used to digitally print the artwork. This makes it look like a picture disc, but it definitely is not! Besides the 12”, the single was also released on CD, housed in a nice digipak and features a bonus-CD with grooves that can actually be played on a turntable – crazy shit huh?! You got to pick up a copy yourself to see, hear and believe it, but it looks cool (and I admit, weird) as hell!

 

Anyway, that’s it. Definitely pick up “Under Tension” (which was released on blood red vinyl with black spokes, white vinyl, blood red vinyl and black vinyl – total pressing 2,000 copies) as it will be one of your favorite released of 2020 and if you like to add some cool extra’s to your collection, pick up one (or both) version of that single as well! Hold fast boy!

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