There’s an almost vintage Rockabilly vive to opener ‘My Devotion’ that has me thinking of Australia’s own Living End or a far, far lighter tae on Bullets and Octane. In reality though L.A.’s Warner Drive are more akin to the likes of Royal Rebublic, Danko Jones or even Rise Against! than their Australian or hometown brethren.
If you like it fast and furious with a punky edge and tons of energy to burn then its worth giving ‘Till the Wheels Fall Off’ a spin, it’s a nice follow up to their highly regarded 2014 release ‘City of Angels’ and perhaps even packs a bigger punch and its easy to imagine a good few of these tracks taking a spot in their internationally acclaimed live set.
Try ‘Karma’s a Bitch’ the latest single if you like the more mainstream, reserved and radio friendly aspects of the band’s sound – it’s a catchy song that’s bound to rouse attention, but then so is pretty much everything here.
Elsewhere there’s plenty of fun and plenty of variety: more pop rock with the riff driven ‘LA Psycho Chic’ and a little more of the same (if more reserved) on ‘Never Gonna Win’ and then the opening big sky sound leading to the vaguely Gaelic punk pop stomp of ‘Anthem of the Douche’. And as you might expect they go out with the slow swing and groove of ‘You Make Me Smile’ it’s a nice low key end to am assured release.
At the end of the day Warner Drive is what it is, a commercial savvy slick pop rock punk band. They write some cool tunes and with this album they seem to have rounded off all of the rough edges and depending on your point ofview and personal tastes that may be a good thing or a not so good thing.
Warner Drive will continue hitting everywhere from Los Angeles to Helsinki in 2017. Make sure to catch them on tour.
