The Drowners - Destroyer (1996, A West Side Fabrication); World Record Player (1997, Speech)

Granted, The Drowners 2000 album (and domestic debut) Is There Something On Your Mind? has turned up in a lot of bargain bins throughout recent years, it still stands as one of the finest overlooked power-pop platters of the new millennium. A quintet from Skelleftea, Sweden, The Drowners derive much of their inspiration from fellow Scandinavians like Johan, The Merrymakers, and Popsicle, but moreover, there's a decidedly Americanized bent to their recordings. In fact, the band was so enthusiastic about Stateside demi-gods The Posies, they included a paean of sorts to their heroes on Something's "Bellingham."
Imparting a sumptuous cavalcade of crunchy power chords operating in tandem with a commanding, but none-too-glossy production job, that album's 13 indelible songs left me craving more. Luckily, the Drowners had a back catalog to plunder, but it would take some hunting to obtain their previous LPs, Destroyer and World Record Player.

Destroyer would have been a superb debut effort for any of their ilk, but factoring in The Drowners much stronger albums to follow, it wasn't quite revelatory. The record would generate a number of singles for them in their native Sweden, including "Teenager" and "Stupid Way," but album cuts "Responsibility" and "Turnpike Down Again" found them working to their true potential.

Containing early versions of a number of Is There Something on Your Mind ? selections, including the positively flooring "Summer Break My Fall" and "Bittersweet," World Record Player boasted more aptitude than their debut, and convincingly set the table for their first stateside album three years later. You'd be hard pressed to find fans of Jason Falkner and the Gladhands who wouldn't become lifetime devotees after a spin of WRP. A real treat for anyone with an appreciation of this album's aforementioned follow-up.

After the release of (and rather unnoticed) Is There Something...The Drowners returned to the indie circuit for their fourth album, Muted to a Whisper in 2002, and five years thereafter, Cease to Be.

Destroyer
01. Sunshine
02. Teenager
03. Stupid Way
04. Paulina's Eyes
05. Spark
06. Crave
07. Responsibility
08. Hey Superman
09. My Sacrifice
10. Harder
11. Turnpike Down Again
12. The Bitter End
13. Bumperstar

World Record Player
01. Bittersweet
02. Fake R&R Personality
03. Is There Something On Your Mind?
04. Pickup
05. Summer Break My Fall
06. What Comes Naturally
07. From a Distance
08. One Star
09. I Hear You Knocking
10. Hey Seventeen
11. Winter Left You Alone
12. Dependency
13. Happy Endings

Destroyer: Hear
World Record Player: Now playing on Amazon.