When Matt Hitt says Drowners' second album was "written with a lot of uncertainty and darkness," it's easy to ask one simple question: Really? After all, the hooks careening across 'On Desire' hit as hard as their debut, a DIY record that earned Drowners a cult following on the road alongside Cage the Elephant, Foals, and Arctic Monkeys.
If anything, the New York band - helmed by Hitt and rounded out by guitarist Jack Ridley, bassist Erik Snyder, and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Daniel Jacobs - is as bold and brash as ever. Lurking a few levels beneath the group's tightly wound post-punk tracks are bittersweet minor key melodies that burn like the red light of a setting sun.
Unlike the introspective songs Hitt wrote for their self-titled debut, 'On Desire' was more of a group effort, too, a full-on collaboration from its demo stages at an upstate cabin to sleepless recording sessions at several NYC studios (including Electric Lady and The Bunker) with producer Claudius Mittendorfer. So while old singles like 'A Button On Your Blouse' and 'Luv, Hold Me Down' sound as urgent today as they did two years ago - channeling the lyrical storytelling of Jarvis Cocker and the punk spirit of Blur - there's no denying how widescreen 'On Desire' feels.
Tracklist
1. Troublemaker 2. Cruel Ways 3. Human Remains 4. Someone Else Is Getting In 5. Dreams Don't Count 6. Conversations With Myself 7. Trust The Tension 8. Another Go 9. Pick Up The Pace 10. Don't Be Like That
