Review: Driver Friendly – Bury A Dream

Artist: Driver Friendly
Album: Bury A Dream
Genre: Indie Rock, Power-Pop
Label: Self-Releases

Words. They’re fucking tricky aren’t they? .

In music journalism, writers tend to toss around phrases so frequently that the words can become cliche and lose the full magnitude of their meaning. We build things to a level of unsustainable expectations, then scoff condescendingly as the pressures we’ve placed on a band’s quickly buckles their knee caps.  Our “next big things” and “buzz bands” are raped of their natural growth process and we throw them from their first studio to the stage of Saturday Night Live in a matter of weeks, on the way to becoming a dime a dozen artist filling the two-dollar bin at Vintage Vinyl. As these collection overflow into the aisles they represent and emphasize that hype often tends to suffocate bands in the spotlight and the “it” bands generally turns into “if” bands.

This effected is furthered by the A.D.H.D of an Internet generation pretending to be consumed by music.

These days, albums tend to leak anywhere between 10 days and 3 week prior to the physical release of an album. The result of this accessibility is a completely disposable product which flames out as quickly as it gathers steam. An album is stolen, shared and forgotten weeks after it is released, due to a constant need to move onto the next big thing. Meanwhile, the music industry stands around pondering why exactly their bands can’t seem to get a foot hole. These days it isn’t as much about hype as it is about making a record that can’t be forgotten. You have to cram it down these kids throats and stick in as far into their chest as you can. Hopefully it lands close enough to their hearts to make them experience something real.

Driver Friendly (sometimes called Driver F) is that band. I have said it from the very beginning: “There are two types of people in this word, those who love Driver F and those who have never heard of them.”

Steadfast in their signature sounds, Driver Friendly’s Sophomore album Bury A Dream picks up exactly where Chase the White Whale left off. With swirling moogs sounding off in stereo, brass blasting from the background and the dueling vocals of both Ty Dagger and Andy Lane, the band manages to check the creation of catchy hooks off their list in ways most bands would deem unimaginable. On “Ghosts” for example, the guitar and drum based first single, the band uses busy riffs and first-pumping chants to catch the listener’s ear. Building into a frenzy at the song’s end, the album shifts into straight forward power-pop chords over Jeremi Mattern’s thundering drums as “Ghosts” makes way to “Messidona.” “Do What You Want,” the album’s third cut takes a more danceable, The Clash approach. The album continues shifting gears through the course of the LP, never allow a moment of repetitiveness. The is no room for cabin fever with this album, as something new is always a track away.

However, do your best not to touch that next button. This album is best when listened to as a whole. Sure, it would be pretty easy to cue up obvious radio singles like “Shark Cave” or wall of sound ballads like “Why Don’t You Just Rain For Me.” But, in doing so, you would miss the prime element that makes Driver F, Driver F. Their ability to take individual tracks and weave them together into one, long quilt of noise is flawless. Honestly, they don’t make albums, they write novels to music. Each chapter tells a unique story, but is best utilized following the previous affiliate. Their uncanny ability to apply hooks to their songs, snapping together like puzzle pieces is something you’d expect to find in a veteran band with years of label experience. This natural talent proves to me to the the key compound differentiating the hobbyist bands cluttering up sites like bandcamp and the bands who should be defining words like buzz band.

It is not very often that I’ll put it out there and promise that a band will make it. It is always a risky bet. However, I will openly state that I believe that there is no band in music who deserves it more than Driver Friendly. I’ll be heartbroken if the world offers them anything less than everything.

SCORE: 9/10
Review written by Josh Hammond

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2 Responses to “Review: Driver Friendly – Bury A Dream”

  1. pam says:

    tyler, i hope your album does well! i would like to know where i can purchase it. thanks!! your greenwood neighbor!

  2. Driverfband says:

    Our album will be available on iTunes on April 24th. Or if you would like a physical copy go to http://www.driverf.com and order on there anytime starting now! Hope all is going well for you in greenwood!