The Drin

Reviews

The Drin Today My Friend You Drunk the Venom LP

Moody post-(pretentious)-punk from Cincinnati, but it’s not as bad as you’d think. The usual required deadpan vocals are accompanied by a bit of Australian VENOM P. STINGER/KIM SALMON musical leanings leaking through along, with the usual JOY DIVISION/WIRE/FALL influence. Some songs have almost a spooky RESIDENTS vibe, and there’s a little classic Ohio ELECTRIC EELS and PERE UBU in there somewhere. Nice. The heavier songs like “Peaceful, Easy, Feeling” are my faves here, and I could write something about beautifully textured musical landscapes or some such bullshit, but basically it’s a nice bleak winter day kinda listen but nothing to kill yourself over though. Lol.

The Drin Down River in the Distance LP

I reviewed the last DRIN release, and when the opportunity came up to review this one, I was interested in hearing what this mysterious project has come up with next. Down River in the Distance cranks up the murk and expands the bleak, dubby spaciousness. The drums take a big step forward in the mix, the bass providing more of a felt frequency. The prettier strummed chords and more melancholy minors are replaced with fuzz-fracked brittle guitars that crackle as if coming from a shortwave radio. It’s psychedelic, but with a color palette that’s only swirling with muddy grays.

The Drin Engines Sing for the Pale Moon cassette

Cassette-only mystery music from Cincinnati, OH. I imagine this was developed as a COVID-enforced winter project of long days alone with a four-track, and you can hear the masonry of them building each song brick-by-brick. Stylistically, it’s experimental, touching on an erudite record head’s exploration of motorik rhythms, coldwave synth sines, dub-heavy production, and propulsive post-punk basslines, notably the chunky riff that gives the second tune “Guillotine Blade” all of its life. The album leans on developing a mood through textural soundscapes and less on classic songwriting, but when a catchy chorus or a well-honed hook appears, that’s when this album really works and has that CLEANERS FROM VENUS feeling of it being more like a live band rather than recorded alone. If this was released as a two-song 7″ containing the tunes “Down Her Cheek a Pearly Tear” and “For the Tsarina” on the flip, I’d be reaching for my turntable to hear those two over and over.