The Drums to round up rollercoaster year with free gig in London

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This year was always going to be a good one for The Drums. The 'next Strokes', as they have lazily been labelled, were the winners of the NME Philip Hall Radar Award 2010, an accolade picked up by the likes Glasvegas in the past. The gong is awarded to the band tipped for success in 2010, and it was right on the money.

The New York trio (who were once a two piece and earlier this year a quartet) released their self-titled debut album in June to much acclaim. Songs such as 'Let's Go Surfing' and 'Best Friend' provided the soundtrack to a summer that now seems long ago in the current cold snap. They backed up their album with a host of live dates where their new wave inspired surf pop received huge welcomes. The Drums were the must see band during the summer festival season.

Yet the band also hit some choppy waters this year when their guitarist Adam Kessler left the band. The reasons for his departure were unclear, but lead singer Jonathan Pierce, remaining guitarist Jacob Graham and drummer Connor Hanwick vowed to carry on.

And carry on they are. Having played two sold out nights at The Forum in London last month, The Drums are back in the capital on 13 December for a one-night only free gig. They will be playing for the first 200 arrivals at the Queen of Hoxton where they will be looking to get things back on track by finishing the year as successfully as they started it. Well worth checking out, even if just to reminisce about warmer times.

For more information on the Queen of Hoxton event, including door times, click here.