Drenge’s self-titled first album granted the Derbyshire two piece success at the head of a wave of similar blues inspired rock bands in the past few years. This has since been surpassed by the almost stratospheric rise of the equally loud Royal Blood, but their growing popularity has left them with the option to evolve their sound into an even stronger follow up record after a year on tour. Drenge, whilst introducing the Loveless brothers’ sound and song writing capabilities, was perhaps confined to a roster of angst driven, grungy garage tracks. Undertow has gone far and beyond this with a more expansive, ordered and flowing record.
It isn’t just the addition of bassist Rob Graham (formerly of Wet Nuns) on some tracks that adds to the musical achievement of ‘Undertow’. The album flows like a journey through the sinister setting that comes across in Eoin Loveless’ lyrics, aided of course by the album’s artwork of a lone car abandoned at the side of a dark country road. Still featuring some of the adolescent angst of the first album in places there is also a deeper and more emotionally sensitive tone to many songs such as ‘The Woods’.
On the other hand there are a couple of tracks that are purely instrumental, showing a creative step forward for Drenge and setting the tone at key points in the album. It opens with an eerie ‘Introduction’ that gradually builds tension for the huge sounding ‘Running Wild’. This is one of the more brooding tracks on the album which serves to contrast with other more upbeat classic rock sounds scattered throughout.
The singles that preceded the album make up the first half and provide a diverse range of rock and roll with tonnes of energy, along with one of the albums heaviest songs and highlights, ‘The Snake’. ‘We Can Do What We Want’ and ‘Favourite Son’ are both upbeat punk infused bangers that are surely set to have huge crowds bouncing in years to come.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF70_BcdxVs&w=740&h=422]
‘Undertow’ the other instrumental, comes just before the end of the album and offers a Queens of the Stone Age style thumping before the grand finale. ‘Standing In The Cold’, which at 5:36 minutes is the longest song, also with a similar desert rock feel. Not only does this make up part of a strong finish but is also a welcome respite from the fast paced energy of many of the other songs. ‘Have You Forgotten My Name?’ is not the most memorable of tracks but is epic in scale and depicts the finality of a car driving into the sunset, the carnage of the rest of the album in its wake.
Some of the songs on ‘Undertow’ are undoubtedly weaker than others but there are not many negatives to be said about what should be one of the standout rock records of this year. Either through Eoin’s descriptive lyrics covering various themes or the accomplishment of diverse rock and roll, made with relatively few tools, this is a hugely satisfying and tremendous album.
Words by Tim Goodfellow