Review #58: DrunkDriver - Born Pregnant (2008)

BORN PREGNANT

Year: 2008

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Noise, Hardcore
Label: Parts Unknown Records
Tracks: 9
Length: 35 Minutes (Medium-Length)
Style: Angry/Weird
My Rating: 5/8

We are living in a musical dark age. The vast majority of artists today just simply can't rock. Finding a good band today is like an adventurous, uncertain voyage through the underground (the need for which fortunately coincided with the rise of the internet) to search for the new beacons of punk rock. DrunkDriver, my most recent discovery, is one of these bands. They are from New York City... they're loud, aggressive, weird, listenable, and clever. The sound is hard to really compare to anything else, but they play that new style of noise-rock that's melded with hardcore punk (actually, I'm not sure if it's that new, but it seems to be at least more abrasive than the stuff from the '80s) in the vein of Flipper and Black Flag. As far as I'm concerned, this is their first LP, and I already have a lot of faith in this band. Their second LP is coming out next month, so if you like this, be ready!

1. Ode
Extremely scratchy sound-quality. Mostly made up of slow metal-esque tempos with many abrupt pauses accompanied by psychotic rambling. My favorite line: "UNDER THE HOOVES OF SOME SILLY FAGGOT!!" -- poetry!

2. Rebecca Ross
This one's a lot faster. More screaming and yelling about random shit! Lots of variations in the drumming, which I like. Shortest song on the record.

3. Secret Eater
Another fast one. Weird breathing noises made during "chorus" parts. Lots of screamin' like a demon!

4. Product
A lot of slurred repeated phrases uttered here can be heard in previous tracks. Lots of tempo-change.

5. Sick Kid
One of the slower songs. Jeremy (the singer) angrily yells, "you'll hurt like a phantom lamb!" -- part of this record's appeal is its downright weirdness. I love it. The song gets even sludgier halfway through, with a more thumpy beat.

6. Millions
Another slow song. Sounds like the man's singing about how much he misses "her" (she sounds kinda hot). He also sings about buying her some brine (shrimp?). The things a guy will do to win a lady's heart, sometimes... End of Side 1.

7. Dick in a Mousetrap
Starts with the fuzzed-out sounds of Jeremy whistlin'. Suddenly, that mellowness is interrupted by another fast, high-fuzz, high-noize rock n' roll tune. A lot of interesting tempo shifts, once again. Favorite song on the record.

8. Women (the Blues)
A slow one. I guess it's a song about women. And the blues. Maybe caused by women. Maybe blue women. Another one of my favorite ones on this album (they're really all pretty good).

9. Cure for the Common Cold
Somewhat slow. Extremely long (over ten minutes!). I imagine this would be entertaining to see performed live (as would all of the songs on this album). No clue how they just kept going, though. Apparently they did. And proof of the band's true insanity.

Believe it or not, there IS some melody to the songs. Not "melodic" as in sounding like pop-punk, but the riffs aren't just random chords existing to completely clash against eachother. You just have to listen far past the insane amount of distortion and the production quality that makes it sound like the band recorded this in their garage to a single tape-player (which they might have actually done). Of course, this is all assumedly part of their intended sound, which is mega-abrasive, packed with amazing lyrical content, hard, and even heavy on a couple tracks. They're not perfect, but who the fuck IS anymore? This band is like a shining star of hope in the musical sky for me, and I wish them well, that they will continue to get support and perform and grow (just hopefully not UP). And, as I said earlier, I am looking forward to their next album coming out in a month! For fans of Pissed Jeans, Flipper, and the Melvins, this should be right up your alley. And if you don't like those, you'll probably hate it. Unless you just haven't heard those bands yet and would probably like them if you heard them. But, I'm out. Enjoy!