LIVERPOOL-BASED five-piece, The Drifting Classroom, launch their debut album ‘Oubliette’ at Manchester’s Night and Day cafe tonight, and it promises to propel them to new heights. Quays News entertainment reporter Polly Riggs was fortunate enough to have an early listen…
The band are the latest in a string of boybands with a distinctive British male vocalist, perhaps filling the void left in the hearts of the indie teenager following the retirement of bands such as The Enemy and Milburn, though their more mellow edge distinguishes them from their predecessors.
‘Oubliette’, a quick Google search reveals, means ‘a secret dungeon, accessed only through a trapdoor’, and this seems a wonderfully apt title.
The Drifting Classroom take their listeners through the trapdoor and into a maze of playful melodies, with tracks such as ‘Madness’ and ‘Jane’ verging on the theatrical and fantastical.
One would almost be forgiven for thinking that this was a musical theatre-based album, but the stripped bare, simplistic vocals ground ‘Oubliette‘ and The Drifting Classroom firmly in feel-good indie pop.
The highlight of the album is the first single – ‘Doo What‘. It’s melody has a cyclical quality that is catchy in an almost nursery-rhyme way, and this is offset with the lyric ‘I’m not coming home’ in a way which is both interesting and irresistible.
Tracks such as ‘Red & Gold’, ‘Hey You’, and ‘Golden Gate’ (which features a keyboard solo – a much underrated tactic in modern pop), are easy-listening and catchy toe-tappers which will surely leave a listener smiling.
The Drifting Classroom share their name with a 1980s horror graphic novel, but this is surely ironic. ‘Oubliette‘, released sensibly as the summer kicks into the ‘maybe I’ll only need a jumper’ phase, is the epitome of easy-listening indie-pop that packs a rousing punch to set it aside from the crowds, with songs such as ‘Bloodlines’ and ‘Grasses Charred’ swelling into big, bold finales.
The final track on the album, ‘Japanese Film’, is a gentle, fading instrumental, nicely concluding the almost other-worldly concept of the album denoted by its eccentric title.
The album is not the finely polished sound of a more experienced band, but is certainly a promising first attempt.
So what next for The Drifting Classroom?
Well they’re not wasting any time, having already begun writing their follow-up effort.
They’ve already been picked up by BBC Introducing in Merseyside, so don’t be surprised to see them sneak onto a festival bill in the not-too-distant future…
By Polly Riggs
@pollyriggsug
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