THE DRAWBACKS ~ LOST IN TIME ..... review

Crunching power chords, thrusting rhythms  and strong throaty vocals all underscored with a hint of southern rock swagger can only mean one thing and that is Greece! Yes we are back in the birthplace of Western civilization again, the country that in the past gave us the foundations of philosophy, mathematics, literature and art but more recently has given us, with bands like Nightstalker, Routes and Planet of Zeus, raucous riffs and thunderous rhythms. 

Today we turn our attention towards the country's capital Athens and a little combo going by the name The Drawbacks, Andreas (vocals); Manos (guitar); Vagelis (drums) and Giannis (bass), a band formed in 2016 and who with their debut full album "Lost In Time" are proving that Greece, despite all its recent economic woes, is still a force to be reckoned with.

If your a fan of the proto flavoured space rock of  USA's Monster Magnet and also have a penchant for the raucous grooves of Greece's Planet of Zeus then The Drawbacks might just be the band for you. These two comparisons are no better exemplified than on the debut albums opening track "Taxi Driver" a song that begins with crunching guitar motifs circling around growling bass and tight solid percussion over which throaty vocals venomously rasp and roar, al a Planet of Zeus,  then drops into a spaced out lysergic doomic groove, that is pure Monster Magnet, fleshed out with appropriately flavoured vocal tones. Now of course there is more to The Drawbacks musical canon than just an amalgamation of the styles of two fairly well respected stoner(ish) bands, The Drawbacks also draw heavily on the blues, classic rock and southern tinted hard rock for their inspiration. These elements make their presence felt  throughout "Lost In Time",  and especially on songs like "Brother", "Metaphor" and "Rising Sun", but even then it's hard not hear aspects of POZ and Monster Magnet's distinctive grooves rising to the top. This is due, in part, to the bands front man having a comparable larynx shredding roar to POZ's Babis Papanikolaou, at the top end of his range and  an uncannily similar tone to Monster Magnet's Dave Wyndorf at the lower end of his register, but is also due to the fact that the grooves the rest of the band surround those vocals with have elements of both these iconic bands in their makeup.

It is probably a little unfair to fill a review with comparisons to two other bands but the fact is that once heard those comparisons are extremely hard to unhear To their credit The Drawbacks manage to merge these two distinctive styles together on "Lost In Time" seamlessly while still managing to put their own signature on things, which is something that should be applauded and another good reason why "Lost In Time" is such a great listen and one you should most definitely check out.....

© 2020 Frazer Jones