By Kris Engelhart
It’s taken a lot longer than anticipated for us to get a follow up to The 1984 Draft’s 2018 release ‘Makes Good Choices.’ Due to a number of reasons ranging from a fried board to the COVID pandemic, the recording of their sophomore record was delayed, but luckily, the band’s new album ‘Best Friends Forever’ is due to be released this coming week.
The Dayton, Ohio, based rockers stay true to their ’90s punk and indie rock roots with a collection of 11 songs that range from adrenaline-fuelled rockers to mid-tempo feel good songs. ‘Best Friends Forever’ was recorded by Fred Vahldiek at his Fredzoz Studio in Dayton and mastered by Chris Common (Mastodon, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez) giving the band an old-school feel. The songs on the new record are instantly relatable with themes centering around family and well, life in general.
The punk rock influences are ever present on the album opener ‘Erryday’ with crashing cymbals and fuzzy guitars. Frontman Joe Anderl is a breath of fresh air throughout the album especially in an age where Auto-tuning everything to death seems to be the norm. Especially notable is his outstanding performance on the laidback burner ‘Ever Ready’ as he almost grieves the line “No, I’m not ready to die.”
The rhythm section of bass guitarist Chip Heck and drummer Justin Satinover drive the ferocious pace on ‘Empty’ and ‘Rhino’ and the sing-along “Hey!” of ‘Toledo Strong.’
There are a number of collaborations on the album adding a fresh twist with vocal harmonies on ‘Big Star’ featuring Susie Ulrey (Pohgoh) and ‘Bells’ featuring Cherry Fullam. Eli Alban’s guitar work is outstanding with a grunge throwback on ‘Last Summer’ and a real 80s rock guitar god style on ‘Hold Steady’ which also features Todd Farrell JR (Benchmarks, Two Car Garage.) Not to be missed is the anthemic ‘Two Cow Barrage’ featuring Sean Gardner (Kopaz, The Reeker) which fades to a stripped down vocal amidst the fuzzed-out guitar of Alban, but not before it has you screaming for more cowbell!
‘Best Friends Forever’ is a solid statement from a band that knows what kind of music they want to make and makes no apologies for doing things their way. With this release, The 1984 Draft is poised and primed for the long haul.
- ‘Best Friends Forever’ is released on Thursday (19 February). You can get your copy HERE.
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