Album: The Drums, The Drums (Moshi Moshi)

A drum, when all’s said and done, is a hollow vessel that makes a lot of noise. It’s the perfect name, then, for the loudly hyped but essentially vacuous Drums.

Opener “Best Friend” – an almost tropically cheery song about death – takes the Smiths as its template and sets the tone, although these four preppy and pretty indie boys from New York aren’t fit to lace Morrissey and Marr’s brothel creepers. From Jonny Pierce’s murderably twee vocals down, it’s all calculated to appeal to cutesy C86 types.