#dronenrocks

Dronen Never Sleeps 

Album: 284 Days EP  Artist: Dronen Label: Self-released US Release Date: 2015-02-03 UK Release Date: 2015-02-03

Southern California band Dronen brings choice cuts of meat to the table with their new EP, 284 Days. Essentially, you’re gonna get so much from this EP if you have a soft spot for the proposition of early Radiohead having a love child with Neil Young at his grungiest. Heck, final song “Lights Out” kinda sounds a bit like “Hey Hey My My (Into the Black)”. Ergo, while there’s nothing terribly groundbreaking here, those who miss Thom Yorke’s wails and moans against, you know, actual guitars plugged in, are set to really gain something monumental from this release. For an EP, it is well constructed and has a sense of “togetherness” that many short albums lack – it really feels like Dronen has structured its sound and done a bang up job of it.

Each of these five songs could easily make its way to a playlist, but the thing that is encouraging about many of them is that they’re not afraid to jam out. Three of the five tracks eclipse five minutes, and nothing is shorter than four-and-a-half minutes. So there’s epicness on this EP. That kind of inability to rush thing really works in Dronen’s favour because they do have the riffage to plow things forward. And, man, for an indie rock release in 2015, 284 Days is pretty darn heavy in sound. So, again, the best descriptor of this is one of “meatiness”. While the EP doesn’t feel wholly original, which is a liability, the songs are generally good enough for those who simply want to take a nostalgic trip back to the days when Radiohead hadn’t discovered the laptop yet. This is straight forward, straight ahead material, and should swiftly become a favourite for those who simply love guitar rock.

Rating: 7 outta 10