Review: The Driers - See You In Never [2015]

   After a lot of hard work playing shows and writing new material, Tel Aviv rock trio The Driers finally deliver new EP, See You In Never, featuring latest drummer Ben (Mad Choice/Zaga Zaga/a bunch of other stuff). 

   As readers of my blog will already know, I have seen this band a bunch of times and enjoy their refreshing slab of 90s style alt. rock. The five tracks on this EP are all songs that I recognise and love. If I am not mistaken, these are also songs which have been in the band's repertoire for quite some time. Whereas some of the newer material I've heard in live shows are a little bit more along the Weezer style of alternative rock, the songs here could almost be considered pop rock.

   Contagious gets things off to a heavy start. Some thumping drums in the intro lead to an upbeat, rock-out number with a bouncy chorus. Although guitarist Ronnie sings the first verse, from thereon in we hear the now trademark sweet harmonies that her and bassist Tomer do so perfectly. Ronnie also sings main vocals for second track Who Doesn't and fourth track Porchlight. Who Doesn't is pure rock in the choruses but, due to Ben's drumming techniques, explores other rhythms and styles throughout the song. Porchlight sounds incredibly lighthearted and quite poppy. The intro is one of my favourites of theirs, as the opening guitar riff is soon accompanied by the bass that harmonises beautifully. The song can easily be mistaken as a cover of some sort of song by Shangri Las or even The Supremes, as it has a hint of that traditional style of writing plus an easy listening quality to it.
   Tomer takes up main vocal duties on third track Lipstick Buds and EP closer A.L.A.R.M, which makes sense, as they are both pretty bass led. Because of the bassline and the groovy drumming, both songs have quite an electronic/new wave sound to them. Lipstick Buds has it mainly in the first verse which then leads to the hard hitting chorus of "You want to be my never again". All Driers' choruses are easy to sing along to but this has to be the catchiest of them all. The song has interesting vocal melodies and a generally fun and uptempo nature.
  A.L.A.R.M could be considered the EP's party song due to it's disco beat in the chorus. However, Tomer's vocals and the song's lyrical content add dark undertones, making the song a little bit edgier than the rest of the EP.

   As I have heard these songs many times before, I was really hoping to hear something new on this EP. Luckily, we are promised a full length soon which will hopefully have some cool surprises. I love the band's use of harmonies, especially blending both a female and male voice together, similar to bands like Band of Skulls and Spiderbait. That, plus the musicianship and songwriting, make these songs very enjoyable, as long as you appreciate pop sensibilities in rock music....which I do.

4/5