Street Drum Corps – Self Titled

I will never forget the first time I heard Street Drum Corps. It was September 19th 2005. I was drenched in sweat after an exciting Alexisonfire performance and was patiently waiting for the headliners, The Used to step on stage and rock the shit out of that place. So I when I looked up from tying my shoes, I was very surprised to see an unfamiliar logo staring back at me from behind the drum kits. A cross, with drum sticks cross bones and the words Street Drum Corps underneath – then, the three piece band stepped on stage, and suffice to say, they were good. They kicked it off with Flaco 81 and I was impressed. It was like a punk rock version of “Stomp”. Sure there was a real drum kick, but they were also using trash cans and fire extinguishers and it was cool. But then they went into their second song, Bang!! and they just started to drag on and on. People soon got bored and just wanted The Used to come on and play, and they soon did. They played a bit with Street Drum Corps and then proceed to rock the shit out of that place and most people, for the moment anyway, forgot about the opener.

A few months later and here we are, the debut album from these innovative drummers, and really, it follows in the same pattern of their live show. It is interesting, but it soon starts to wear thin. The little quirky attraction you initial felt towards them soon fades, and the fact that you don’t actually see them playing the household instruments lessens their attraction even more. Then, on top of that, they throw in some weird little mixes into it, computerized breakdowns and effects which seem to be a bit out of place within the whole drumming album. Of course, the human body sounds on Body Sounds 101 sound kind of cool (and for some reason remind me of a friend of mine), but really, like their live show, after a while it just becomes repetitive and boring. You need some vocals in there to liven it up a bit, or else the gimmick just seems to wear thin.

Drummers will probably find this little compact disc fairly interesting, and the entire ideal behind it is a good one; and they are definitely worth seeing just to see how they make music out of every day items. But as a singular EP, it gets boring quickly. Although, to be honest, I haven’t seen the DVD that comes with it yet, that may be interesting.