A decade ago, Jonathan Pierce returned to his childhood home in Horseheads, NY, to reckon with his past. While his parents were away at service, Pierce entered their home, removed all his clothes and took photos of himself in spaces where he once experienced trauma. Established by the powerful cover art (along with accompanying photographs in the vinyl version), Pierce's sixth album as the Drums is absolutely haunted by sorrow and reclamation. Whether the listener is familiar with the record's back story or not, Jonny nonetheless leaves a lasting impact.
As far back as the Drums' 2011 sophomore album Portamento, Pierce was injecting honest emotion into the (then) quartet's surf rock sound. However, Pierce's latest record nearly abandons all hope, as tracks like the yearning "I Want It All" and the pulsing "Pool God" trade off reverb-drenched riffs and beachy lyrics for misty synths and meditations that touch on exploitation and seclusion. Pierce is both introspective — "There's a little child that lives in me," he sings on "Protect Him Always"— and penitent, admitting that "My solitude loves me better than you do" on "Obvious."
Keeping pace with his raw and heartbreaking lyrics, Pierce keeps the album sonically stimulating, trading his regular (and sometimes reviled) drum machine sound for live drums on the pleasingly sparse "Be Gentle." By melding his chorus-drenched guitar with bouncy bass for dance-infected "Plastic Envelope" and offering an acoustic and electro fingerpicker with "Green Grass," Pierce shows off a newfound musical growth and knack for crafting complex melodies.
Late album matters-of-the-heart like the aforementioned "Obvious," the elastic "The Flowers" and the thumping Morrissey crooner "Teach My Body" harken back to the Drums' early, carefree material. But there's rarely a moment on Jonny that feels regressive — for the first time since the Drums' debut 13 years ago, Pierce has mastered a way to bare both his chops and his emotions.
(ANTI- Records)As far back as the Drums' 2011 sophomore album Portamento, Pierce was injecting honest emotion into the (then) quartet's surf rock sound. However, Pierce's latest record nearly abandons all hope, as tracks like the yearning "I Want It All" and the pulsing "Pool God" trade off reverb-drenched riffs and beachy lyrics for misty synths and meditations that touch on exploitation and seclusion. Pierce is both introspective — "There's a little child that lives in me," he sings on "Protect Him Always"— and penitent, admitting that "My solitude loves me better than you do" on "Obvious."
Keeping pace with his raw and heartbreaking lyrics, Pierce keeps the album sonically stimulating, trading his regular (and sometimes reviled) drum machine sound for live drums on the pleasingly sparse "Be Gentle." By melding his chorus-drenched guitar with bouncy bass for dance-infected "Plastic Envelope" and offering an acoustic and electro fingerpicker with "Green Grass," Pierce shows off a newfound musical growth and knack for crafting complex melodies.
Late album matters-of-the-heart like the aforementioned "Obvious," the elastic "The Flowers" and the thumping Morrissey crooner "Teach My Body" harken back to the Drums' early, carefree material. But there's rarely a moment on Jonny that feels regressive — for the first time since the Drums' debut 13 years ago, Pierce has mastered a way to bare both his chops and his emotions.