Dark folk trio The Drink have re-released their debut album Company, via Melodic. The band, whose members are Dearbhla Minogue (also of The Wharves), Daniel Fordham, and David Stewart, have been compared to Throwing Muses of a more folk based Warpaint. Personally, I immediately thought they sounded very much like a version of Minogue’s other band that has never heard of the Breeders.
The band have the quite significant honour of impressing independent record store Rough Trade to such a degree that they stocked their first two handmade EPs. The first time they have stocked an unsigned band’s release in recent history. The album Company collects these two EPs together and deals with what it means to be human, and alone, “The idea of company is really interesting, why is it so important?” asks Dearbhla. “The way people operate in company – and in companies – is so interesting. Groups are formed by individuals but after that they take on a life of their own.”
With one of the best debut releases of the year ,please check out The Drink the trio arebased in London, Imagine the instrumental prowess of now defunct North London outfit Fighting Kites teamed with a Sleater-Kinney like attitude and you basically have The Drink. In 2012 Dublin native lead vocalist and guitarist extraordinary with her jerky African styled rhythm guitar sounds Dearbhla Minogue joined forces with erstwhile Fighting Kites members David Stewart and Daniel Fordham and began creating beguiling, dark pop music delivered by a sweet tongue. It’s this darkness, paired with trio’s knack for folding juddering guitar led melodies underneath surreal lyrics, that saw their first full length Company held up by The Guardian, NME and the Independent alike as one of the debuts of the year. After recent performance at Green Man festival The band followed it up with a blistering performance at End Of The Road Festival, Lets hope for more provincial dates this is a band you need to see. Thier first album release Company sees the London trio collate the 12 songs which comprised their first three EPs (all now out of print), shuffle the running orders and repackage them as one release.
Tracklisting:
1. Microsleep
2. Bantamweight
3. Playground
4. Dead Ringers
5. Fever
6. Wicklow
7. At The Weekend
8. Beasts Are Sleeping
9. Demo Love
10. Desert
11. Junkyard
12. Haunted Place
“A fascinating first shot, packed with potential” – UNCUT
“As unique as it is beguiling … one to watch” – Independent
“Straddles the dream pop of Warpaint and the roaming melodies of British folk” – Observer
“Gloriously weird indie folk pop … flashes of blackness and oddity” – The Line Of Best Fit
“Up there with the best indie-pop songs of 2014” – Drowned In Sound
“4½ / 5” – Independent on Sunday
“4 / 5” – The Times
“4 / 5” – MOJO
So the story about The Drinkis that Rough Trade stocked their “homebrewed” EP despite the band being unsigned. But upon hearing their phenomenal “Company”, I’ve decided that it was hardly a gamble. This album is stupendous, Completely different to what I initially expected.
It kicks off with “Microsleep.” A post-punk bass-line out of a Fugazi track anchors a choirgirl singsong with lyrics about petit mal seizures. Feedback laden guitar descends with a subtle jangle-pop flourish. There are obvious lo-fi influences, but every sound snaps into place the way it should. Every track is well produced but not overproduced.
The lyrics are charming, too. On “At the Weekend,” singer Dearbhla Minogue declares, “It came to me in a blood transfusion. Internally, it was a silent affair.” The guitar embraces the listener with wide arms like a Built to Spill track, but with a deftness of touch that keeps the grit at bay while maintaining plenty of oomph. There’s sweetness here, but it never becomes twee. It’s like a toothier, fuzzier Belle and Sebastian,
That’s not to say that The Drink are one trick ponies. On “Playground,” there’s an African rhythm. Everything ultimately builds to a forceful swell of guitar that erupts into a crescendo undergirded by subtle organ sounds. Similarly, “Dead Ringers” has a bluesy math-rock opening before the cathedral vocals kick back in. Moments of the bassline sound like they mightn’t be out of place in a (gasp) Metallica song. The lyrics describe a severed head, creating a Stanislavski-esque contrast between the vocal inflection.
The Drink manages to be all over the place without sounding like they’re all over the place. There’s enough riff rock for a rock fan to be satisfied, but an atmospheric element that hides the album’s ambitious complexity. Snippets of Blonde Redhead collide pleasurably while a voice akin to that of the Glaswegian gals in Camera Obscura .
This album is great bedroom pop, something for your headphones but not your next party. Somewhere amidst the syncopation and off kilter time signatures, there’s enough for indie rock fans of every stripe. It’s by turns abstract, unabashedly rockin’, gentle, muscular, tender, and brash. There’s experimentalism at play, yet it feels entirely familiar.
to such a degree that they stocked their first two handmade EPs. The first time they have stocked an unsigned band’s release in recent history. The album Company collects these two EPs together and deals with what it means to be human, and alone, “The idea of company is really interesting, why is it so important?” asks Dearbhla. “The way people operate in company – and in companies – is so interesting. Groups are formed by individuals but after that they take on a life of their own.”
The Fat Angel Sings 