Are The Drums The Next Big Thing?

I'm always a bit nervous when the NME et al jump on a bandwagon and declare that a band is the 'next big thing' or something like that. For every jackpot, such as the mighty Strokes, there is an Andrew WK. Of course, music journalists understand their ability to make critical weather - one of the reasons why being hyped up by the NME and gaining a spot on the coveted 'NME Awards Tour' is so important for a young band.

Having said that, the 'NME Awards Tour' does have a very impressive strike rate over the past few years. Last year, I was blown away when I saw Glasvegas, White Lies, Friendly Fires and Florence and the Machine. All of them have gone on to pretty substantial commercial success.

This year's product of hype has been US band 'The Drums'. Guttingly, I wasn't able to make the NME Awards Tour shows this year, but I did follow the hype by picking up the 'Summertime' EP. And it lives up to every piece of hype it has received. Shades of Beach Boys, shades of 50s rockabilly, shades of Echo and the Bunnymen and decades worth of classic harmony rock from both sides of the Atlantic and plenty of great melodies and very cheeky, but clever lyrics. All in all, brightening up a very rainy day in the UK.

Check out this and see what you think:

It all whets the appetite to the small club show they are playing at Heaven that I'm going to next week (probably the last time you can see them in such a small venue) and the release of the debut album. This time, they really could be the next big thing...