Single Reviews ‘The Minotaur’



Single Reviews – The Minotaur

“I remember the first time I saw The Drones. They were playing a late-night support slot at Pony in Melbourne. They absolutely detroyed the room with some explosive dirty blues-rock like I had never heard. The lead singer, Gareth Liddiard, seemed almost unhinged as he screamed his way through the set. They were loose, raw, and absolutely sensational. What's more I developed a disturbing man crush on the insane front man, while simultaneously developing a more regulation crush on the bassist, Fiona Kitchin. Confusing situation, but at the same time probably the closest I'll ever get to being David Bowie. Each time I have seen them since they have got tighter but have never lost that raw, explosive edge. I can't say another band holds a candle to them in Australia at the minute.

New single The Minotaur is another thick slab of dirty genius from The Drones. The intensity of this track is actually a little scary as Liddiard spits out a tirade about god-knows-what but I'm tipping it is deep and slighty mythological. Guitars are huge, the bass line foreboding, and the drumming near the end jaw-dropping. This puppy is on high-rotation on the stereo, and I can't see it ever coming off unless The Sharp make an unexpected comeback. Genius.” Alastair Reed - THE

“The Drones have released the first single off their new album. “The Minotaur” is a digital release and comes off as a brutal and devilish track, complete with the first real contribution of Dan Luscombe, who delivers his brand of a driving guitar sound. In fact, this is the band's first new song for some time. The vocals are more venomous than ever and I don't think it comes across, to my ears, as something palatable and lasting. It seems a pure blast of illogical noise and not what I expected from a band who cite Al Green, Nina Simone and Van Morrison amongst their influences. We'll see what the album brings.

“It’s an awful thing to admit to, so let’s not. But let’s say that hypothetically speaking, which instantly makes absolutely everything ok (except maybe googling “2 Girls 1 Cup”, some other person could relate to having a friend who seemed perhaps a little unbalanced. A little tense. A little bit a candidate for a chat that involved the suggestion of seeking some mental health advice. And let’s pretend that the friend who thought this decided not to have this chat, because to be honest, they sometimes selfishly enjoyed the end-of-their-rope slightly crazy mate’s antics. If you could, hypothetically, relate to that, you might feel the same way about The Drones, and specifically frontman Gareth Liddiard. Over the past few years and albums, Gareth’s cemented his reputation as one of swamp-indie’s finest, most articulate and tortured-sounding songwriters. With the first sample of the group’s fourth album proper Havilah, that reputation is in no danger of subsiding, as his oddly pronounced and unpredictable Bobcat Goldthwaite-like vocals scream over the top of an alternating sloppy-loose then staccato-tight mesh of guitars. The press release claims The Minotaur “manages to draw the historical line between ancient Greek mythology and current-day time-wasting… a half-salute to modern-day sloth, and the painful decision our future leaders face…” After a dozen listens I wouldn’t have a fucking clue if this is even close to true, but I do know I’m not going to be the one to suggest Gareth take a chill pill. There’s enough music playing it safe. The Drones continue riding hazardously close to the edge, and it’s a thrill to tag along in their sidebuggy.” RAVE MAGAZINE

“Set to join My Bloody Valentine on the bill of All Tomorrow’s Parties in New York this September, The Drones continue to do us proud with their unique brand of squalling folk punk. The Minotaur heralds the highly anticipated fourth studio album from Gareth and company, called Havilah. If it is a sign let it serve as a warning for what’s to come – this tune hollers, screams and spits. It’s a mean bitch of a song.” BEAT MAGAZINE

“When Gareth Liddiard and co. plug in, they are one of the world’s most ferociously, individual live acts. And singles like ‘Baby x2’, ‘Shark Fin Blues’ and ‘I Don’t Ever Want To Change’ prove their shit sticks to records too. ‘The Minotaur’ sees Liddiard combine his half-cocked delivery with a quirky, menacing folk tune that bristles into lacerating rock. That they pull off it off (sic) is testament to Liddiard’s craftsmanship, particularly when he casts characters as the unwilling surrogate parents of a mythical beat that ‘…spends all day watching porn and playing fucking Halo 2’. Could be shit and insane, but it’s wonderful instead. “ THE BRAG -- SINGLE OF THE WEEK

“You weren’t really expecting to hear this one on the airwaves, were you? Any lover of these swamp indie kings would probably be shattered if that mainstream world tuned into the tortured, heavy and hypnotic beast that is The Drones. Their return features front man Gareth Liddiard in full-throated howl and, dare I say it, you may just find yourself dancing to this irresistible guitar hook and sexy rhythm.” Kathy McCabe – DAILY TELEGRAPH

“Oh my lawdy. Australian band The Drones are a subject on which I will rant to excess at some other time. But suffice to say this monstrously brilliant, violently intelligent aussie rawk outfit have resurfaced after their Custom Made 7’ release and Live At The Annandale Ltd LP with the first track off the upcoming Havilah through ATP Recordings. A Genesis (the bible no the band) reference, Havilah being a land reference for it’s abundance, The Drones bring an abundance of Revelations type intensity as front man Gareth Liddiard spits his demonic prophecy over an alternatively slinky and lumbering riff laden 3 mins and 25 seconds. It’s only available on itunes from what I can tell so don’t buy it yet – DRM mp3s be damned – check it on their myspace and spend your money on (a) their back catalogue and (b) start saving for the full album due in mid September. They truly stand apart from the pack and they haven’t made a misstep yet! The Minotaur is amazing so do yourself a favor and check it out – RIGHT NOW.”

“The first taste of the highly anticipated forthcoming album Havilah from The Drones comes in first single ‘The Minotaur’. Considering their last record, the feted Gal Mill was recorded before the AMP award winning Wait Long By The River and The Bodies of Your Enemies Ill Float By, this is the first new record from the band since back in 2004. Hard to believe. With new axe-slinging supreme Dan Luscombe on board they’ve traded some of their spasticity with a wider sonic palette. On ‘The Minotaur’ there’s been some Marc Ribot style tremolo licks. But thankfully its not at the expense of glorious white noise. Which could also be a euphemism for singer Gareth Liddiard’s vocal technique, barely containing his venom to get the words out. Which, according to the band, “manages to draw the historical line between ancient Greek mythology and current-day time-wasting. A half-salute to modern-day sloth, and the painful decisions our future leaders face, between holding the destiny of the world in their hands, or holding another X-Box controller.” The Minotaur is out digitally on July 29 and the mud-brick recorded Havilah is out September 20. I’ve preached the effect of this band before. The affair continues.” .AU

“The Drones always seems to be one of those really exciting bands who you just look at and wonder where do all those songs come from? The wonder doesn’t cease with Minotaur, the first single off of their fourth album Havilah. Front man Gareth Liddiard’s manic, sometimes screaming vocals work well with Dan Luscombe’s driving guitar riffs bringing a sense of urgency to the song, making for a very interesting listen.” THE DRUM MEDIA PERTH

“Vocalist Gareth Liddiard sprawls through the door of the bar, slumps beside the jukebox and yells his odyssey of woe between outbreaks of glorious stumbling guitar that are either trying to shout him down or urge him on. There’s not quite the hooks or something like Sharkfin Blues, but the lines just keep pummeling you with a blues undertone that is anger rather then resignation. The Drones remain engrossing, if only to see at what point they are going (sic) fall off that ragged edge they have made their own. Fabulous again.” THE DRUM MEDIA

“Wondering why this tool a while to und up in Singled Out (apart from the slight delay while I cleared the backlog around my desk with a flamethrower?) Well, did you need me to tell you it’s great? Because, duh, it is. Even if I sometimes wonder if The Drones might be in danger of drifting into a sort of stock “The Drones” song/sound, when it’s as good as the knife’s-edge tension and smart, seething disdain as The Minotaur, well, I’m not complaining. But what I really want to see is The Drones scoring a bloody, existential Australian “Western:. Can someone hook them up?” INPRESS MAGAZINE

“Let’s get the important part out of the way first: ‘The Minotaur’ by The Drones is single of the year – no question. It’s ridiculously fucking good. The drums that start things off are sparse and dry and don’t even hint at the glorious instant just seconds away when a twisted Television-style guitar riff discordantly chimes in an the controlled madness begins. Gareth Liddiard’s demented, drunken rambling matches the weird syncopation which is broken only briefly by a small bridge of intermittent feedback squealing. The chorus (if it can be referred to as such) is two chords smashing against each other like oceans colliding until it is spirited away into a moment of almost-religious optimism amid a wall of intense and reckless emotion. One can barely imagine that the Drones have un store when their new album Havilah is finally upon us in mere weeks, but ‘The Minotaur’ all but guarantees it will be one of the most important and exciting Australian releases of the year.” TIME OFF – SINGLE OF THE WEEK

“When you are one of Australian’s favourite indie acts and you want to write your fourth album after a string of critically acclaimed gems it’s clearly necessary for you to hole yourself up in a mud brick house somewhere in the mountains of Victoria. The Drones have earned themselves a string of awards including an AMP Award for their debut Wait Long By The River & The Bodies Of Your Enemies Will Float By (2005) and if their newest single, The Minotaur, is anything to go by, then album number four will follow along the same lines. A favourite on Triple J already, The Minotaur is a slice of everything that makes independent rock music fantastic. It’s complex, swampy rock that will have the body grooving along to the sludgy bass lines and intricate guitar work. With a national tour set for October, now is the time for CR to fall in love with The Drones” THE MUSIC NETWORK

Album Reviews – Havilah

“There is no question in my mind The Drones are Australia’s best band. This record – their most cohesive – underlines that fact. Recorded in three months, The Drones’ fourth album might soothe, yet inspire. It’s quieter for longer but it is no less charged. These are beautiful, tender, sometimes seething songs with themes spanning the generations. Gareth Liddiard’s vocals lead a dribbling guitar sound that can twist tighter than a coil of old wire. Cold and Sober is a classic, I am the Supercargo, builds into an epic of doubt while Careful as You Go shows The Drones’ song-writing is maturing.” MUSICAUSTRALIAGUIDE. JBHI MAG ****1/2

“There are a fair few bands experimenting with the indie rock sound at the moment, and it’s not always easy to stand out amongst the sea of sounds.  So it is a credit to the Drones that they have crafted their own niche, marked their territory if you will, in the crowded world they find themselves in. Havaliah (sic) is a varied release, at times frantic and fast paced, like The Minotaur, at other measured and serene, like Cold and Sober.  Their sound is loosely progressive – they craft energetic soundscapes, not the ambient kind. The songs might not be to everyone’s taste, but then great songwriting often isn’t.  It might take a couple of listens to get used to it, but once you do, the beauty unfolds. We’ll definitely be keeping our eyes on these guys, so stay tuned to Music Feeds over the next few weeks and we’ll bring you a complete interview to find out what goes into making an album like this.” MUSIC

“The marketers must despair. The Drones have made their third superb album in a row, a densely rich assortment of compelling stories told with a novelist's eye and a poet's heart delivered with such controlled power that it leaves your body feeling bruised but unmarked and your brain alive. “And beneath moonless hills Chinese nocturnes/breathe Cantonese through young Joe Byrne/horsefly, shanghaied, stay home/and you won't ever be alone they lie.”

Greatness awaits the Melburnians. But, most likely, so does obscurity.  At least at home. Why? There is nothing pretty about the Drones. Not their sounds, not their songs. They don’t have ‘70s denim grafted on; you won’t find a soft and sensitive singer/songwriter under any track here; the only dance moves likely to be engendered involve almost involuntary movements and burrowing of heads into speaker boxes to soak it in more.

And lordy, no one is going to confuse Gareth Liddiard’s harshly textured, nasally voice with that of, say, Guy Sebastian. Hell no. 

Yes, the Drones do have a definite '80s flavour, in keeping with this century’s dominant influence. But this isn't post-punk jerkiness, synth pop or tight rhythms played in tight pants, this is the Moodists and the Wreckery more than New Order, Nick Cave not Michael Jackson.

"I have the same old dream/about a tunnel by my bed/from where the stench of shit of minotaurs/yawns likes lewd and evil breath," Liddiard sings in one song. "Like thunderheads creeping down the hill/and pretty soon everyone gets ill/but I slip the net, being tall and thin/and pretty soon the dark turns to dim," he says in another.

So the musical and physical terrain of Drones’ songs can be at best rugged, but more often than not harsh and testing. Not unforgiving, not impossible and in its own way rather beautiful, but bearing little relation to tree-lined streets, Saturday broadsheets spread out  and coffee alfresco. Heavy dragging basslines and spiked guitar lines will appear, the pace sometimes will take on the feel of a runaway road train on a downward slope, the vocals are wrenched out and sometimes are so intense as to practically be foam-flecked.

That's only part of the story of course.  In Luck In Odd Numbers, a measured mix of old folk love song and existential despair, the rat-a-tat drums are the only overt signs of heaviness though there’s no hiding the grip on the soul. In relatively gentle songs such as Careful As You Go (acoustic guitar, Liddiard almost crooning, regret a more significant factor than anger or fear), or Cold And Sober (soaked in alcohol, sung as if from a bed of soiled sheets and old memories) you are reminded that loss and pain can be slow, silent killers. Why, there’s even a cracked country song to finish the album in Your Acting’s Like The End Of The World.

Ah, stuff the marketers. Sublime lyrics, music which demands your attention and rewards it handsomely, and strength: this is as good an album as you will hear anywhere this year.” Bernard Zuel SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

“If The Drones’ latest platter doesn’t immediately conjure the grim isolation that their exceptional ‘Gala Mill’ did, you can rest assured that frontman Gareth Liddiard has still got dark things on his mind. Stating that ‘people are a waste of food’ and offering sage advice like ‘get your tubes tied… go commit suicide’ on ‘Oh My’, there’s a barely contained venom directed at the human race on ‘Havilah’ that borders on misanthropy. It’s ironic then that this is perhaps The Drones’ most upbeat album. Not to say that it’s cheerful, but whether it’s the sing-songy verses of ‘Nail It Down’ or the Beefheart-via-Waits quirkiness of first single ‘The Minotaur’, there’s a buoyancy to this material, even as Liddiard moans and spits out his fatalistic narrative poems with that disarmingly honest, ragged voice. The presentation is still grimy and gnarled, Liddiard and recent addition Dan Luscombe trading in tremulous, shimmering guitar textures and cathartic noise. But this may also be the band’s most solid batch of tunes, their sturdy structures allowing them to be bent into twisted shapes while losing none of their essence. As with ‘Gala Mill’, The Drones’ aptitude for fiery rock is used sparingly, like on the monolithic slow-builder ‘I Am the Supercargo’ and the uproarious anthem ‘Oh My’, the focus instead resting on subtler, more nuanced material. The Drones’ volatility has always made them an exciting prospect—the hypnotic refrain of ‘The Drifting Housewife’ a prime example of how even their prettiest material can bristle with agitation. But there’s a sense of hope amid the unease on ‘Havilah’, perhaps best summed up on the album’s jangly, uplifting closer ‘Your Acting’s Like the End of the World’, where Liddiard says he feels ‘like a canary who’s living underground, singing through the gas’ (Strom).” TSUNAMI MAGAZINE – FEATURE ALBUM

“When I first heard ‘nail It Down’ opening track of this new Drones album, live, my jaw landed on my toes. Ebbing and flowing between machine-gun-fire rock and swinging roll with soaring guitar calls, all grounded by Gareth Liddiards’s uniquely candid vocals, it was a formidable introduction to Havilah. It’s no less formidable an introduction on disc as opening track, the band somehow managing to capture the confident controlled chaos – thunder and lightening and the post-storm calm in a bottle. And the album barely lets up for a second from there, a weird little backwards jet engine sound segueing straight into lurching, threatening second track ‘The Minotaur’, a study in tension and release. If you’re not gasping by this stage of the album, you’ve got no right going around telling people you like rock ‘n’ roll. The Drones have always been a thrilling rock band. With considerable experience and imagination of guitarist Dan Luscombe now on board, they’re able to explode further into unchartered territory. Havilah contains some of the band’s most abrasive and unconventional music yet, but it also features some of their most melodic and tender as well. Above all there’s a n integrity to this music that is utterly convincing. In that respect, a friend pointed out some similarities to Midnight Oil’s first couple of recordings and they’re there in the tangles of guitar riffs and indeed in Liddiard’s sputtered percussive poetry. But mostly it’s there in the unique combination of original musical talent chasing a vision without compromise. It’s hair-raising, all the more because it’s so rare to hear it anymore. The Drones once again shunned conventional convenient recording methods in pursuit of that vision, setting up in an isolated mountain cottage with Burke Reid (he of electro rock outfit Gerling!) to coax, caress and cudgel the whole into shape in a couple of weeks. And it’s not all blisters and screams, that’s for sure. Havilah sees the band simmering as gently as it eve has in ‘Careful As You Go’ and the nocturnal blues of ‘Cold And Sober’, When such sounds bookend a sinuous explosion like ‘Oh My’ – as they so here – there isn’t another band in this country that can touch them.” RHYTHMS MAGAZINE

“The Drones wander into the wilderness and bring back new musical salvation. Recorded in an isolated mountain shack Havilah is a potent mix of Gareth Liddiard’s wild-eyed lyricism and off-kilter rock. Liddiard is a blues guitarist and songwriter given to phantasmagorical visions of human idiocy. This album finds him even more disaffected with the world than previous efforts., Gala Mill 0 and even more reflective. On Mill, it was convict landscapes and colonial tales that offered a path to judgement of present-day concerns. On Havilah, the lyrics are a litany of indictments: people “playing fucking Halo 2” and spending “all day looking at porn”. The addition of Dan Luscombe on guitar has added newfound textures – “Oh My” is a classic rock riff screwed and chopped, “Luck in Odd Numbers” an uncanny, nightmarish dance, “your Acting’s Like the End of the World” is a defiant, rollicking attempt at a good time. Havilah is prime evidence that four humans can corral their ambient fears, creative faculties and many frustrations into a document not of nihilism but of intent, purpose, outrage, hope, fury and ambition.” ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE ****

“In Don’t Look Back Bob Dylan wrests a guitar from Donovan and plays ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’. Donovan, who has just played some pretty, frivolous ditty, looks upset and tries to recover by requesting the song, but the lesser singer’s body language says it all, his embarrassment pitiful. The Drones have always put the competition – the weak rockers, self-obsessed balladeers and shiny stylists – to a shame similar to the one inflicted on Donovan by Dylan’s genius. With Havilah, the playing field is even less level. 

Havilah features very little that is immediately impressive. Gareth Liddiard’s song writing and his band’s playing are too sinuous and deeply magical to do that. While they may be at heart a great rock ‘n’ roll band with the best of starting points (Crazy Horse guitars, Dylanesque fill-the-gaps narratives, Pixies-like skewed pop), throughout the record, the Drones take the path of most resistance. An intensely moving song about cargo cults in Papua New Guinea (‘I Am The Supercargo’)? An eight minute, opium induced meander through the mind of Kelly Gang member Joe Byrne (‘Luck in Odd Numbers’)? The Drones continue to go where few others dare, but never without lashings of heart and a ballsy kick. It is unimaginable how songs so completely removed from one’s life experience – and presumably, the experiences of the songwriter too – can be so affecting. On a superficial level, Liddiard’s sense of melody is unrivalled in its sublime combination of nuanced phrasing and outright volume. The climax of ‘ I Am The Supercargo’ is impossibly magnificent and Liddiard has by now moved so far beyond reproach in his adopted vocal style that to even mention it would be churlish. It is unfathomable to imagine any other voice singing these songs. Furthermore, the unity of the band, recorded live in a cottage in Havilah, near Mt. Buffalo in country Victoria, is often forceful. The tambourine and guitar licks of ‘Oh My’ (easily Bizarre Pop Moment of the year) subtly foil the potentially turgid tone of the song. Together with the by-turns hilarious and ominous lyrics (e.g. “people are a waste of food and don’t bother learning Chinese”), ‘Oh My’ makes an angry but also joyous reproach to the Industrialised world’s by now obvious lifestyle issues. 

The “empty monologues about mine-shafts trimmed like synagogues” of ‘Luck in Odd Numbers’ may be the most cryptic moment of the record, but Havilahis as much a record begging personal reflection as it is concerned with blowing the lids off the constrained ego. While the raw and ragged tracks (first-single ‘The Minotaur’, ‘Nail it Down’ as well as ‘Supercargo’ and ‘Oh My’) are suitably massive in the drunken abandonment of an intertwined dual-guitar attack and locked-in bass and drums, the softer moments of Havilah (which take up the remaining six tracks) are perhaps the record’s most striking feature. Here, Liddiard is freer to expose the subconscious in all its tangled nestings, a gift that he employs excellently. Final track ‘Your Acting’s Like the End of the World’ is an exceptional parting blow, and the most romantic thing Liddiard has ever written. Typically, however, what at first sounds blissful and upbeat in the ringing folk guitars expands in layers of meaning toward something murky as Liddiard’s narrator “worries about [his] first big night as the curtains fall”. 

Like every single track of Havilah, the meanings and beauty of ‘Your Acting’s Like the End of the World’ are myriad and multi-tiered. They are there though, lurking at various depths beneath a surface of what is fundamentally gloriously realised rock music. Thoughtful, visceral and with an astounding generosity of spirit, Havilah is a strong contender for album of the year.” WIRELESS BOLLINGER ALBUM OF THE WEEK

“To save you a trip to wikipedia, Havilah is an ancient locale mentioned in the same breath as the Garden of Eden in Biblical times, famous for its abundance of gold. The Drones latest album of the same name also has an abundance of gold, but of the lyrical and musical variety. You get the feeling that The Drones are destined to be – if not already most of the way to being – one of Australia’s really important bands. The type that a fair few years down the track will be described glowingly and gushingly with the utmost reverence and lauded for their influence, if not their lavish success. You couldn’t really claim they are “underrated” though, with the band receiving the inaugural Australian Music Prize in 2006 for their second album Wait Long by the River… and getting a good few critical nods in their direction for their third album Gala Mill. This will no doubt continue with Havilah as the band have produced another intensely stirring and bewitching album. For this record The Drones singer and songwriter, Gareth Liddiard, decamped to an isolated mud brick hut in rural Victoria to write songs over a few months in early 2008. After rehearsing the new material with the band the resulting songs were then recorded in an intense two-week period with the help of Gerling’s Burke Reid as producer. The fact that the great bulk of The Drones music has been recorded in isolation and largely free from external trends and influence contributes to its unique intensity and tone. The ten songs range from the bristling burst of frustration that is first single The Minotaur to the sprawling apocalyptic dark-folk of the eight and a half-minute Luck in Odd Numbers. There is very much a folk-ish storytelling aspect to the album – Liddiard creates characters and circumstances that allow for the unraveling of personal narratives within his songs. In most instances the music is subdued and restrained with the focus on Liddiard’s voice and lyrics; the songs sparsely signposted with acoustic guitar as the band bubbles away beneath. That said, tangents of jarring noise arise considerably throughout the album reflecting or emphasising some sort of internal personal turmoil or conflict such as the maddening descent of sound conveying the impending divorce of The Drifting Housewife. Liddiard’s voice for the most part is a moseying nasal drawl – yet it unleashes in a fierce sneer on I Am the Supercargo, another Drones song scoured from the footnotes of world history, this time concerning cargo cultist John Frum. The Drones seem to have harnessed the raw musical power of their early days and are able to selectively employ it for emphasis as opposed to its inclusion as one bludgeoning mass. On Havilah, Liddiard’s song writing has evolved to offer a compelling and questioning view of the world and the tour-hardened band intuitively flesh the songs out. Like its gestation, the album is a compact smouldering self-contained burst of sound and one that will only be even greater experienced live.” FASTER LOUDER – ALBUM OF THE WEEK

“Since The Drones came to our attention in 2005 with Wait Long By The River… they’ve barely kept still, neither in terms of relentlessly touring and recording, nor beloved frontman Gareth Liddiard’s intense onstage twitching. Now with their fourth studio record, the four-piece keep aloft that unnerving wide-eyed intensity that infects their complex arrangements and often dark themes with an intangible level of intimidation, but have scaled back the levels a touch from 2006’s Gala Mill. This could well be Liddiard’s Tom Waits record – maybe he’s missing a little of that boozy vocal gruffness (though just a little) – but the rambling tales of night times, fucked-upness and lost souls, seemingly retold spontaneously over a whisky, slip right into that jagged mould. Even the single, muted guitar behind tracks like Cold And Sober comes from the most menacing lounge you’ll ever feel slightly out of place in. Of course, the band still reminds us of their brutal, chaotic force on tracks like first single The Minotaur and the ebbing and flowing eight-minute Luck In Odd Numbers, where their nonlinear racket swells and breaks like nothing you’ll see on Bondi Rescue. Unsettling and beautiful simultaneously, The Drones’ reputation as a dangerous world-class treasure will only be enhanced further by Havilah.”

“I accidentally saw The Drones a couple of times a few years ago playing at the Empress in Fitzroy and I totally dug it. Since then (like, since they started releasing records), I’ve lost touch. I hear good things but I never get around to confirming them. Here’s the fourth record then, refreshingly short titled, but musically, anything but refreshing. Do I mean this in a bad way? Hell no. This is a tripped out, scruffy, thrashy fuck of an epic proportions. Is this what I’ve been missing? Damn it. Having just re-listened to it, I feel an inbred urge to smoke three packs, drink a bottle of whiskey, find some other rock clichés, so them, then break a guitar over the head of the nearest innocent bystander. Nice.” VICE MAGAZINE

“Following a few very successful albums, particularly in terms of critical acclaim, The Drones must have felt a bit of pressure when coming up with Havilah, as the last thing any band wants to do is loose their momentum. And the good thing is The Drones haven’t. They may have simplified their sound a little, making it a touch more musical and accessible, but in doing so have made Havilah feel like a logical progression. Their traditional elements of quirkiness, trashiness and discordance are present in The Drones new batch of songs, but these elements have all been sharpened and focused to accent songs rather than drive them.

Opening track Nail It Down, and single The Minotaur both have a gleeful charge that opens Havilah with a bouncing step, before The Drifting Housewife and I Am The Supercargo strip everything back to delicate, gentle overlapping melodies and a brooding poetry-set-to-music approach the band coined long ago. The middle section of the album follows a tidal approach, ebbing and flowing, allowing the almost Beatles-esque Oh My to contrast beautifully against the more creeping Cold And Sober, Luck In Odd Numbers and Penumbra. Havilah is all ups and downs; changing mood and direction from one song to the next, but is cohesive nonetheless. The Drones have always been one of the most ‘difficult listening’ bands in Australia, but with Havilah they’ve decided to make difficult listening a whole lot easier.” XPRESS MAGAZINE

“The Drones are a quartet from Victoria, who specialise in slow building-down beat swamp rock in a sense. Hard to categorise as a sound, but encompasses a hard hitting element of story telling in their composition. Influenced by Neil Young, story telling reminiscent of Tom Waits, it’s hybrid of all kinds of styles with a bluesy guitar sound which meanders off into dissonance heavily similar to sonic youth or bands of that ilk. The took out the Australian Music Prize in 2006 for their album “Wait Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By”. Which generated a lot of rotation amongst triple j with both Tracks, “Sharkfin Blues” and “Baby2”. Gala Mill which was the follow up to Wait Long by the River..was also nominated for the AMP award. Now with 2008’s Havilah, we have come to expect a standard and mood from the band with each set they deliver. Gala Mill initiated a clause which must be followed concerning the band’s character. If you want to listen to The Drones, start from the beginning, and follow the story straight from the start. Stories will unfold, and vocalist Gareth Liddiard will take you their with his distinctively Australian rasp, which takes you beyond the sound of the song, and straight to the emotional state of the characters involved in these songs. Gala Mill, and it’s predecessor were at risk of becoming to dissonant for their own in amongst the longer tracks of those albums. Gala Mill was very dark, although Havilah makes a refreshing change and adds a bit more light and accessibility to their sound. “Nail it Down”, the opener sees an upbeat start, an dynamic time shifts complement the ebb and flow of the song, accompanied by terrific solo work. “The Drifting Housewife”, is a slow building tale of abandonment which self destructs as it finishes. The First seven tracks of this album, build a lot of momentum, and don’t lag behind longer than they have to. That is the biggest strength of the album. The other three albums had momentary signs of disappearing into their own echo, passages of dissonance which didn’t really compliment the composition that much. This set you can’t tire of, because the majority of the first half is so enjoyable, that by the time the slower tracks emerge, you have been escounsed in the mood of the album and you can’t wait for the second time around. That is something which has been missing from the last Drones albums. This times around it is their best effort to date. A well rounded, consistent set of songs in the manner of which they were intended, but infused with an element of lightness which makes it a definite addition to any collection, and anyone who is interested in this band.. You can’t help but feel, that a band comes along and they can either build a big reputation and peak early and not follow up on their success. Or upon each release, reveal another side of themselves and accentuate their strengths in a way which makes it exciting and enjoyable for the fans and people who have not heard them before. The Drones are in the later, they keep building as an act, and deserve all the recognition they can get.” BLOG: CALLANCUMMINGS.

“I’ve always had strong feelings for The Drones and this record takes my infatuation to a new level. It’s their fourth and by far their best album. Missing again is the relentless, naked aggression of earlier releases. In its place is the restraint they began experimenting with of Gala Mill (2006). Frontman Gareth Liddiard says it’s ‘cos he’s getting old but the real reason is a desire to ass a new texture. Two elements make this obvious; his voice and the guitar sound. Gaz is singing with a new confidence, the desperate intimacy of “Careful As You Go” and “Cold And Sober” shows he doesn’t need to hide behind a wall of Fender noise. Also, Dan Luscombe’s subtle guitarwork has added greatly to the palette, shining through with the fine blues tinge of “The Drifting Housewife”. The gritty rock vibe hasn’t disappeared but is now used sparingly and with skill. This is the record The Drones have been building towards for years, a masterpiece that cements their place at the very top of Australian rock.” BLUNT MAGAZINE

“The new world of The Drones is an exotic place, one populated by dark corners, rarely explored avenues, sparse canvases and dense, exhilarating peaks. In February, front man Gareth Liddiard began writing new songs for the album, in a mud brick cottage in deep within the splendid isolation of Mt Buffalo, in country Victoria. Two months later guitarist Dan Luscombe, The Drones' most recent addition, and drummer Michael Noga joined Liddiard and Kitschin to rehearse the new material. Producer and engineer Burke Reid (The Mess Hall, Gerling) lugged his recording gear through the door and off they went - two weeks flat out - until it was done. Havilah is The Drones highly anticipated 4th studio LP, it will be released through ATP Recordings and MGM Distribution on September 20th, 2008. Havilah, like everything The Drones have done, is an album of contradictions, where bombast meets beauty, melancholy wrestles with violent guitars and singer Liddiard's incendiary voice lights up his angular poetry, this time on the nature of, in no particular order, the moon (Penumbra), divorce (The Drifting Housewife) and the acquisition of godlike power and the cult of John Frum (I Am the Supercargo). It's an album that's brimful of the innovation and artistic integrity that has made The Drones one of Australian rock's most critically acclaimed acts here and overseas during the past four years. It was that spark of originality and blunt-edged chaos that won the Melbourne band the inaugural Australian Music Prize in 2006 for their breakthrough album Wait Long ByThe River and Your Enemies Will Float By. That same need to push boundaries took them to an old mill in Tasmania to record the follow-up album, 2006's award-winning Gala Mill, and in 2008 their invention, innovation and isolation have combined to produce the fireworks of their most accomplished work to date. There are vaguely familiar nods to Neil Young's paint-stripping guitar spasms on Supercargo and Oh My, while the deliciously meandering pop dirges of Suicide and the Velvet Underground echo in Careful As You Go and Luck in Odd Numbers. The outstanding ballad here, Cold and Sober, is a song The Drones have recorded several times during their eight-year reign without it ever making the grade. There's also the relative immediacy but still complex structure of the first single The Minotaur, Liddiard's scathing rant on the wasters of the world, while the lengthy opening Nail It Down perhaps best reflects The Drones' grand scope, flitting as it does between acoustic ambience and rumbling rock 'n' roll meltdown. Once you've been around these 10 songs for a few hours, its not hard to make up your mind about them.” RADIO PBS FM – ALBUM OF THE WEEK

“Given their uncanny ability to deliver brilliance in spades every time they put out a record, it was never going to come as a surprise that The Drones’ fourth studio album Havilah would follow the trend of its predecessors. Like 2006’s Gala Mill, Havilah juggles the brilliantly abrasive Drones aesthetic we all love with barer arrangements and touches of country, further accentuating the Melbourne quartet’s dynamics. That’s not to say it’s not visceral at every turn though – this is The Drones, after all, and frontman Gareth Liddiard could sing a capella and still sound more primal than most. In fact, on the more stripped-back tunes here, such as primarily solo number ‘Penumbra’, Liddiard’s wholly unique, mangled delivery sounds even more like the possessed convict one would swear he’s channelling.

Opener ‘Nail It Down’ packs the most twists, turns, tempo changes and frazzles, gut-wrenching emotion into one song since, well The Drones’ own ‘Shark Fin Blues’. With its compelling, almost awkward –sounding riff and violent howls of feedback in place of a chorus, lead single ‘The Minotaur’ is one of the strongest Drones’ songs yet. Next comes a great change of pace with ‘The Drifting Housewife’, a meandering lament decrying the virtues of marriage. ‘Careful As You GO’ and ‘Cold And Sober’ further demonstrate that the Drones are just as comfortable when they’re not charging full throttle. Lyrically that band are on song throughout – stunningly singular, dark and blunt, with ‘Oh My’ and ‘I Am The Supercargo’ the best examples.

Havilah’s biggest surprise is saved for last with superb closer, ‘Your Acting’s Like The End Of The World’; a breezy country ditty resplendent with flourishes of Spanish-tinged guitar, the song is The Drones most instantly beautiful yet. Havilah is another peerless effort from The Drones.” TIME OFF MAGAZINE

“They say you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone, and hearing Havilah makes you realise how much Rui Perreira’s guitar work brought to The Drones’ music. The sense of danger and chaos that spewed from his battered Strat is gone, replaced by the slick, polished, and distinctly non-chaotic guitar lines of ex-Alpha Males guitarist Dan Luscombe. This is not to say that either guitarist is better, but over the course of this album, you do get the sense that The Drones are still in the process of working out how Luscombe fits within their sound.

As such, Havilah is a disjointed record – each song is markedly different, as if the band is experimenting with different sounds and arrangements, and the result is an album that lacks and overall sonic cohesion. Again, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that Havilah is very different to any of its three predecessors.

When it all works, it reminds you of why The Drones are one of the finest bands anywhere. Skip over opener Nail It Down – described by Liddiard as “an album in one song” – it’s largely a disjointed mess, and most disappointedly, it lacks the singer’s usual lyrical depth. Havilah really starts with The Minotaur, the album’s lead single and most typical ‘Drones song’, full of the loud/louder/loud dynamics that make them such a brutal live prospect. However, it’s something of a false start, because Havilah contains plenty in the way of balladry – The Drifting Housewife is a forlorn indictment of the institution of marriage, while Cold And Sober and Careful As You Go are also restrained and melancholy.

Oh My (originally entitled People Are A Waste Of Food) is a quite hilariously misanthropic verdict on the human race as a whole, the lyrics verging on self-parody but also quite sincere in their disgust at humanity’s selfishness and short-sightedness. The song where The Drones’ new sound gels best, however, is Luck In Odd Numbers, the sort of slow burning eight-and-a-half minute epic that The Drones do so well. Notably, as with The Minotaur, it’s the song where Luscombe’s guitar lines are most prominent, suggesting that while this new model Drones may never have the thrilling, breakneck allure of past years, they still have plenty to offer.” INPRESS MAGAZNE

“The Drones are one of Australia’s truly important bands, strutting the world stage with confidence and a sense of belonging. For the uninitiated The Drones are the latest descendants of an Australian blues trash tradition: imagine J Mascus in The Bad Seeds, or Neil Young and Keith Richards duelling in The Scientists. Album number four, Havilah explodes out two weeks recording in a mud-brick cottage earlier this year. Ten songs, ten well-crafted gems from Gareth Liddiard that cover the dynamic spectrum, from the sparse and hauntingly quiet Cold And Sober to the dense and cathartic Nail It Down and back to the very Stones-like country rock of Your Acting’s Like the End of the World. Possibly more so than ever it is Liddiard’s voice, part manic desperado, part melancholic rambler that takes centre stage over his Gothic, angular and poetic lyrics. Havilah is perfectly formed, nourishment for the ears and the soul. Thank God for The Drones.” CITY HUB

“The Drones are Melbourne’s most literate louts, the gnarly, menacing sound echoing the likes of The Triffids and The Bad Seeds. Gareth Liddiard’s snaggle-toothed snarl slithers around visceral songs about everything from war vets to man walking on the moon.” WHO MAGAZINE

“Back with less of a bang, The Drones deliver fourth studio longplayer Havilah, a relative change in direction and pace. All the recognisable elements are here – gnarling rock epics and ballads, complex song structures and instrument lines all fronted by the delightfully angry rock guy Gareth Liddiard. But there’s an underlying change in the songs.

Havilah seems lighter than its predecessor Gala Mill, which is probably due comparisons with GM’s epic opener Jezebel and it’s Havilah counterpart Nail It Down. Where Jezebel is thick and crunchy, an over stimulated and seemingly steroid infused all of rock, Nail… tries to find the door rather than go through the proverbial wall. And this isn’t a comparison that can be drawn from the opening track; it seems to hold an increase in tentativeness and caution in its entirety.

The songs live up to the expectations in complexity and shape, but step back for effect on climaxes instead of pushing onwards and upwards. Lyrically they’re once again brilliant, with a no holds barred attack on all matters negative throughout the world.

Considering their old stuff inflames a sense of disappointment, however. When the songs have a chance to drill themselves into one’s brain perhaps they’ll reveal their complex magic. But straight off the bat, it doesn’t line up against previous efforts.” THE DRUM MEDIA

“After their third album Gala Mill, a bombshell of a record weighed down with modern war tragedies and horror stories from the forgotten pages of Australian history, The Drones seemed to lighten up a little. Earlier this year, they plied a slightly brighter shade of darkness on their contribution to the All Tomorrows Parties Custom Made seven-inch series. Having replaced two members since it was first recorded, the band breathed a newfound swing into their Bonnie and Clyde classic 'The Cockeyed Lowlife Of The Highlands' and paid tribute to Charles Aznavour's tragicomedy 'I Drink'. It was Gareth Liddiard's promise of black humour finally come to fruition. He has never sounded more alive on record than while screaming the lines of Aznavour's paean to death and alcohol: "I drink 'til I burst in my own degradation/ To the edge of damnation that is waiting below!"

So it comes as little surprise that Havilah too has a sense of humour, albeit one wrapped in barbed wire. The record is just as ferocious as their previous work but rarely quite as grim. There are moments of wordplay – in the title of 'Your Acting's Like The End Of The World' and the second chapter of 'Nail It Down', where Liddiard spits out the lyric, "Her clothes were wet/ Her shoes were damp/ And as she travelled on the weather licked her like a stamp", as if it was a tongue-twister. Elsewhere the singer takes aim at modern vices, skewering the deadweight protagonist of 'The Minotaur' who "spends all day looking at porn/ Or playing fucken Halo 2" and offering his own solution to climate change: "Get your tubes tied/ Or better yet/ Go commit suicide" (and will he be taking the soap box on tour, I wonder? It could make an excellent stage prop.)

Musically as well, Havilah is lighter, if only by degrees. The exception is first single 'The Minotaur', a brutal song with a plodding rhythm and banshee guitar that ends with Mike Noga attacking his kit while Liddiard, Fiona Kitschin and Dan Luscombe do something unkind to their instruments. Elsewhere the tracks range from twangy and rough-around-the-edges rock to majestic country ballads and, at one moment, even the sort of acoustic pop you might expect to hear from former collaborator Dan Kelly. But even when they're having fun The Drones compete for the title of the country's most miserable band – along with that of its best. Havilah marks a run of three brilliant records in a row, not counting their above average debut and outtakes album The Miller's Daughter. The recent SBS historical series Great Australian Albums seems less than authoritative when placed next to a band like this.” MESS + NOISE

“The Drones are a rarity for me. Unlike my Arctic Monkeys or MGMT fixations, their music possesses a longevity that makes me think I’ll still be listening to them when I’m old and grey. Like their previous albums, the sounds on their new release Havilah are challenging, or at least give you the sense that they challenged themselves while making this record. For a record made in an isolated shack, the sound manages to be really big — with all the intimacy tied up in its vocals. Gareth Liddiard’s rough and filthy register is endearingly believable, sometimes scary, and so distinctly belongs to this band. The Drones have produced a phenomenal piece of art with this record, exuding the kind of brilliance that makes me think, we have only seen a fraction of what this band is capable of.” LOST AT E

Live Reviews

“For the last major headline show in Australia before again jetting overseas to infect American minds on a three-month tour of duty, the Drones put in a fearsome musical display tonight. With an arrogant swagger and typical boozed-up performance, beastly front man Gareth Liddiard slurred his way around most lyrics, and whenever he could muster up the words for a bit of mid-song byplay with the loving audience members. Leave it up to guitarist Dan Luscombe to try being a little more articulate, but we could have done without the attack on Gyroscope there Dan. You guys are much better than that. The bagging of other bands is embarrassing and highly cringe-worthy, particularly when it is such a weak, cheap shot on them, but I forgive the lapse. The Drones know how to draw a crowd, so much so that for this umpteenth farewell show there were Melbourne rock luminaries galore snaking their way through the bumper East band room, paying respects and close attention to the master of drunken-psych country, blues and rock. Augie March members, Dan Kelly, Joel Silbersher, Melbourne writers, Melbourne drunks, Melbourne cup winners, they were all there. Well maybe not the Melbourne cup winners. Launching their new All Tomorrow’s Parties sanctioned Custom Make 7-inch. The Drones, appearance wise are far from being a picture of health, jsu the way we like it. As the devastating guitar intro into Shark Fin Blues rises to the surface before taking a ripping chuck out of the heart of onlookers, and as the sweet pours from the Liddiard beard onto the strings of his axe, Mike Noga is up back continuing his assault on the skins, punching the sounds forward. Custom Mae showcases a recoding of Cockeyed Lowlife of the Highlands, and updated version of I don’t Ever Want To Change, Shark Fin Blues and Charles Aznavour’s I Drink, a fitting tribute from the band that was played right at the death of this manic depressive inspired set. You never walk away feeling empty from any Drones show, if anything they are improving and unpredictable, and probably dealing with the side-effect of alcoholism, which is all of frightening, thrilling and quite devastating. I guess the shows with Wilco wouldn’t have hurt then? “ EAST BRUNSWICK CLUB - 14/05/2008

“…In the GW McLennan tent, the most disappointing band of the day is The Drones. It would have been a coin toss to decide whether they look more confused to be there, or if the audience does. Their entire set feels rushed, uncertain and lackluster. It’s a real let-down fro a band with such a good reputation to be so incapable of connecting to each other, let alone anyone else.” SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS - Carolyn Dempsey – INPRESS MAGAZINE 04/08/08

“…After his guest spot, Mike Noga returns to the McLennan stage, joining the rest of The Drones for a frenetic set, encompassing work from their old albums and upcoming releases. One of Australia’s hardest working touring bands, you’d barely pick them for a slightly boutique doom-laden art-rock band with the crowd they’re pulling.” SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS - RAVE MAGAZINE 02/08/08

“…The GW McLennan Tent is only sparsely populated as The Drones arrive, but the faithful revel in their toffee-thick atmospheric mindfucks. There’s a beautiful sinuousness to the band’s sound as they repeatedly wend from a kind of Zen emptiness to an aural overload of bass and guitars. It could all easily be a bit cerebral, but Gareth Liddiard’s pained confessionals prove as compelling as they are convulsive.” SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS - 02/08/08

“…The cold made its presence felt as dusk rolled in. Bonfires started up as t-shirts and sunnies were traded in for jackets and beanies. The frosty setting was perfectly complemented by the Drones, their stark blues roped in by bassist Fiona, while Gareth and Dan wrestled their guitars as if they were holding rabid dogs.” SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS - 02/08/08

“The Drones were their usual cathartic, thunder and lightning best. The new songs from their album out next month sounded strong, while they still manage to find new light within their older songs. "They're a pretty intense little band," remarked a punter standing next to me. That was the understatement of the day so far.” SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS - Richard Kingsmill – TRIPLEJ WEBSITE 02/08/08

“Back at the GW McLennan Tent The Drones were not to be outdone, and produced one of the set of the festival. Drawing on tracks from their forthcoming album Havilah alongside more recognisable numbers like Sharkfin Blues and I Don’t Ever Wait To Change it was the gripping combination of fearless guitar duals and drawn-out Drones epics that left you feeling this was the Australian band next to which others should be judged.” SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS - THE DRUM MEDIA 07/08/08

“Following The Gin Club onstage, visceral Melbourne rockers The Drones deliver one of the standout performances of the festival, opening with Sittin’ On The Edge Of The Bed Crying and not relenting until the final howling shrieks ring out from front man Gareth Liddiard’s guitar. New single Minotaur is a stunning new live addition to their catalogue, as it another new track, Nail it Down. Liddiard contorts his body as he delivers his managed vocals to Shark Fin Blues and I Don’t Ever Want To Change and his physical ferocity is second to none. Set-closer She Had An Abortion That She Made Me Pay For is the single most intense moment of the entire festival.” SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS – TIME OFF 06/08/08

“Over to the GW McLennan tent for a dose of The Drones. A far older and more subdued audience soaked up the brutal onslaught that left out the fancy light show and fists in the air and brought instead the sort of pure, unadulterated Australian rock that can only be attained by a band of thie calibre.” SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS -- AUSTRALIAN GUITAR MAGAZINE SEPT 2008

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