Angry, loud, melodic and passionate - Camberley's Drones have all the ingredients for success when it comes to punk rock. Their new EP 'Free Marked Kid' pays serious homage to their influences, including Rise Against, Strike Anywhere and Anti-Flag, but manages to make an exciting dent of its own.
Opener Raise The Stakes is relentless, with the mix of Daly George's snarls and the sleek guitar work proving a statement of intent, while For The Record pummels with a guitar-heavy assault.
Empty Words possesses a stripped down, raw quality in comparison to other tracks here, but the title track is a show stealer. It channels classic punk elements with a bass-heavy backdrop and vocal battle-cry, providing a stand out moment waiting to be experienced live.
Bloodline Kings is a fleeting foray into the more hardcore end of their spectrum, a neat reminder that it's there, and the album closes by throwing formula out the window. Graves sees the vocal take a less prominent role, blending more with the pounding basslines, shredding guitar work and tight drumbeats.
Is this a reinvention of punk? Well, no. The band wear their influences on their sleeves, tops, jeans, heads, hearts - wherever you could wear them, really. Some moments simply scream Rise Against, but that doesn’t mean there’s not plenty of promise on display.
With 'Free Marked Kid', Drones bring their own edge to the party and they could very well be that up and coming band you've been waiting for. They've shown that they're not only capable of flitting between pop-punk elements and hardcore stylings, but also that they're full of passion.
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