FEATURE:
Spotlight
PHOTO CREDIT: Melanie Hyams
Drug Store Romeos
___________
THE band take their name from…
the Tennessee Williams play, A Streetcar Named Desire and, whilst being based in Fleet, Hampshire might sound worlds away from that play and relevant quote (“No, I have the misfortune of being an English instructor. I attempt to instill a bunch of bobby-soxers and drugstore Romeos with a reverence for Hawthorne and Whitman and Poe!”), Drug Store Romeos are now based in London and looking to release their first E.P. I have been listening to their latest track, Jim, Let’s Play, and there is a mix of dreamy vocals and a hazy feel, combined with Trip-Hop beats and elastic strings. Even though they have not been going too long, the incredible three-piece have released some great tracks! I am going to bring in a few interviews so that the band themselves can give some insight, but I think that 2021 is going to be a good year for them! They would have hoped, having moved to London, that they could have gigged a lot this year and honed their skills but, with everything happening, that has been put on hold until next year. If you need a good introduction to Drug Store Romeos, then this interview from The Line of Best Fit from August provides detail:
“Hampshire itself is not so much notable for its vibrant youth culture as it is for its cricket pitches and (sort of) proximity to London, and after sitting down for a long and varied chat with Sarah, Charlie and Jonny from the band, it appears that they have shed the small-town mentality, if it ever existed at all.
Referencing their inconspicuous musical upbringing, there is more than a hint of sarcasm in Charlie’s tone as he describes the “great music” which comprises the Hampshire music scene. The irony is compounded by reference to Fleet’s most notable venue, a library-cum-music-hall where Jonny recalls a time where, “they had the Bananas in Pyjamas do their thing”. Sarah interjects: “One time there was literally Harry Styles’ second cousin’s, best friend’s, sister’s dog and I saw it.”
Instead, the band found musical stimulation through interaction with each other. Jonny and Charlie are school friends, whilst Sarah completed the lineup later, in response to a Facebook advert: “They wanted a bassist and I wanted to be in a band.” For Sarah, the “obsession” to be in a band trumped any sort of concern. “I would meet up with random strangers online and then travel to like Portsmouth with a guitar,” she says. In this case, Sarah’s lack of proficiency on the bass guitar was remedied by the suitably rock and roll exchange of cigarettes for lessons with Jonny.
Gesturing towards new music and a potential unity in the sound, Charlie contends that the space between these distinct singles is where the rest of an impending album will occupy. What remains consistent in this exciting potential album is how the band collaborates, a process which itself involves its own quirks. This is no truer than in lyric writing, with words a medium of expression which the band unanimously agree is one of their sharpest musical tools”.
I think the group are going to find plenty of opportunities and gigs when venues reopen next year because, not only are they determined and passionate, but the music they are putting out is very different to anything else. I like the way they melt styles like Trip-Hop and Pop with something altogether theirs. Listen to a song like Quotations for Locations, and there are these hazy and soothing vocals that are slightly similar to The Sundays or even The Cardigans, combined with this backing that one might expect to hear scoring a song a lot heavier. That blend of emotions and weights makes their music so layered and nuanced. In an interview with DORK, Charlie from the band discussed the influence and under-use of Trip-Hop:
“Charlie adds: "I think trip-hop is an underutilised style in music because there are a few trip-hop bands like Portishead and Bowery Electric, but I think there is a massive hole where bands could use that drum style and the [same] kind of atmosphere, but use it [to make] like a three-minute pop version." He continues, "A lot of our songs aren't trip-hop really, so maybe it was a bit bold to put trip-hop in the title. We might back step from that." In a kind of defiance and sticking to the roots of how she joined the band in a 'fake it 'til you make it' kind of attitude, Sarah adds: "It sounds like a genre, so we've just got to make it."
In the same interview, the band talked about their path to where they are now. Many might assume they have just arrived from Fleet and have only been playing for a few months or so. They have had quite an eventful and busy past:
“To those who are hearing of Drug Store Romeos for the first time, it would be an easy mistake to assume that they are still in the toddler stages of their musical careers. In actuality, they've already had quite the ride. From cutting their teeth at The Five Bells in New Cross, to being the wedding band for a certain Breaking Bad actor – they've already played a plethora of gigs. But the most interesting of them all? A nursery. Charlie's mum invited the band into her classroom of two-year-old children, so that they could perform a post-punk rendition of 'Old McDonald Had a Farm' allowing the children to participate via a microphone that was hooked up to a delay pedal, and try their tiny hands at the instruments afterwards. (Yes, reader, they gave us a snippet of what it was like, and yes, it is just as magnificently bizarre as you're imagining.)
Charlie describes Drug Store Romeos as an "abstract, playful band". The kind of people that "think it's important that every day you look outside and think 'well, I'm alive!' and then everything you see, you're kind of appreciative of and excited by." Given that their supergroup would consist of Alex G on drums, Henry Rollins playing the harp, Skrillex shaking maracas through a distortion pedal, and Beyoncé on bass, it's safe to say that they have quite the eccentric imaginations”.
Drug Store Romeos are an original prospect and are going to, one would think, put out an E.P. soon that collects together their singles and adds in a couple of other gems. Like very artist I feature, I like to discover what their influences are and the type of acts that have compelled them. Looking at an interview from DIY, and that subject was raised:
“Who were some artists that inspired you when you were just starting out (and why)
Charlie: We were into bands like Beach Fossils, DIIV, Mac Demarco, Sunflower Bean, Wolf Alice and (Sandy) Alex G.
At 16 I decided that I wanted to feel the way that this type of music made me feel all the time. Especially when dealing with negative emotions I found it had strong healing powers that soothed the feelings vs amplifying them like punk did. The members of these bands were also pretty much all soft 22 year olds that we related to. Most of them came from a DIY bedroom perspective whilst being popular enough to tour the world playing to people our age. To us this was so enticing - to think maybe one day we could be at a similar level
Also clean guitars through Roland JC 120 amps sound...um... cool!
Musically or otherwise, what are you most looking forward to this year?
Charlie: We’re recording our album this year and I really can’t wait”.
I will wrap things up soon but, with an awesome new track out, they will be finding their music picked up by new people. I think Let’s Play, Jim is one of their strongest efforts, but one cannot ignore the previous two tracks, Frame of Reference, and Quotations for Locations. These are glistening cuts that exemplify and underline the confidence the trio have and the incredible sound that defines their work. In this interview, we get some more insight into two wonderful songs:
“Can you tell us more about the stories behind your singles ‘Frame of Reference’ and ‘Quotations for Locations’?
Charlie: Here are some tidbits that we haven’t shared before. For ‘Frame of Reference’, over the email we asked the mixer to make one sensible mix and another one that was an “experimental and sound changing mix in which it has a raw 70s/80s/90s new wave weirdo post punk power pop kinda feel.” Then when we went into his studio to listen to both mixes to finalise it, we decided to use the bass sound and the drum fill sound from the experimental mix and everything else from the sensible one. The backing echo synth is taken straight from the original demo. We spent a while in the mixing stage deciding between four different versions of the flanger effect on the synth that happens just before the drums come in!
For ‘Quotations for Locations’, the chorus lyrics were “Manny molovile sings like a madman” for about eight months until I decided to rewrite them whilst I was feeling depressed on Christmas. This was one of the first songs written in the time period in which we went from playing a show a week to none at all so that we could go completely in on ourselves. This song marked the change from our previous shoegazey indecipherable reverb vocal sound to us deciding that dry and upfront vocals were the direction that we wanted to head in”.
I shall leave things there but, in a year that has been a bit rubbish, there have been some real bright spots in music! Among the newer artists rising and putting together their earliest steps, Drug Store Romeos are among the finest. I am interested to see where they head from here and how their career pans out. I guess an E.P. might arrive next year and, when venues safely open, they can get out there and bring the songs to the stage. They already have quite a rosy and growing fanbase, and I am glad that their music is getting some decent airplay! I hope the band have a restful rest of 2020 and, looking ahead to next year, I think they will make some big steps. Follow Drug Store Romeos if you have not done already and show some love to…
A great young band.
______________
Follow Drug Store Romeos
