Drenge
Drenge
As
close to grunge as music in 2013 gets without sounding dated. The debut from whippersnapping brothers Drenge is a great way to start the top
10. Highlights include the
rockabilly-gone-bad snap of ‘Gun Crazy’ (complete with ‘woahoa’ chorus and
persistent snare action); lazy Libertines
style album closer ‘Fuckabout’ (featuring one of the lyrics of the year: ‘when I
put the kettle on, you put heavy metal on’); and the epic ‘Let’s Pretend’ (8
minutes of grubby glam). Best of all,
though, is the spiky-yet-lilting ‘Bloodsports’ (math grunge?), which exudes
awkward brilliance. Drenge is suitably low-fi in terms of its production, and the
tracks are sensibly short. Get in, make
the point, get out. This is raw garage
music with the emphasis more on passion than skill, but with the key actually
being excellent song-writing and an underlying pop sensibility. The likes of Cobain and White would be proud.
Sample track: ‘Bloodsports’
