Encyclopedia

Album review

Though Encyclopedia is the Drums' first album since their debut to feature just the core duo of Jonny Pierce and Jacob Graham, it's not a return to the happy-go-lucky sound of their early days. Instead, on their first album in three years, Graham and Pierce take even more risks than they did on their second album, Portamento, with notably uneven results. The pair holed up in a cabin in upstate New York to record Encyclopedia, which might explain the slightly crazed feel of "Magic Mountain," which between its buzzsaw guitars and Pierce's yelp, sounds more like the Pixies than anything from their previous albums. Topped by theremin-like keyboards, it's a bracingly weird, strangely catchy two-minute song that, unfortunately, goes on for four minutes. Though nothing else on Encyclopedia sounds quite like "Magic Mountain," several other songs teeter between hooky and irritating and run out of interesting ideas before they end. "Kiss Me Again" charms with fizzy synths and falsettos before repetition gets the better of it, while "Break My Heart" and "U.S. National Park" slow the album's momentum with sugary, sleepy kitsch. During the Drums' hiatus after Portamento, Pierce and Graham sampled different flavors of electronic pop with their respective solo projects. In particular, Graham's wistful analog synth work as Cascading Slopes informs Encyclopedia's fascination with retro keyboards, which ranges from the poignant album closer "Wild Geese" to "Bell Laboratories," which aims for experimental but ends up sounding unfinished. As on Portamento, Pierce and Graham are still in a gloomy frame of mind, although the music that accompanies their lyrics about death, heartbreak, and emptiness comes with a shot of adrenaline that rivals the Drums' early days. Again, the results range from uninspired tracks like "Let Me" and "Face of God" to highlights such as "I Can't Pretend"'s bummer-pop and the crisply catchy "There Is Nothing Left," which is one of the best updates of their sound yet. While Encyclopedia is slightly more entertaining than Portamento, it finds the Drums facing similar problems; they don't have to stick with the formula that made them popular, but so far they haven't consistently delivered anything as good.
© Heather Phares /TiVo