After the end of
Slobberbone, singer and lead songwriter
Brent Best performed some solo shows and started working on solo material. Despite his last group having disbanded,
Best brought his old pals Jess Barr and Tony Harper back into the fold for his new group,
the Drams and added a new bassist and keyboardist. And while fans of
Slobberbone might yearn for the band to reunite at some point, there is plenty of material here to keep them pleasantly happy. The addition of keyboards and less reliance on guitars makes songs like "Truth Lies Low" open up and fly from start to finish. Think of a polished
Wilco without the bizarre but brilliant tangents, and you get the gist of what's going on with
Jubilee Dive. From there the group saunters into a roots rock milieu, with "Hummalong" hinting at summery California pop in the distance before the guitars take over in the vein of
Blue Rodeo circa
Lost Together.
Best is at his best, though, with the tender, slower, and mellower Southern moments during "Holy Moses" that features some great work by keyboardist Chad Stockslager. It sounds like a cross between
Black Crowes and Canadian artist
Matt Mays, while "Fireflies" has a certain '60s rock flavor to it with its rather simple melody. A couple of the songs venture into six-minute territory, including the soft, bubbly pop of "You Won't Forget" that morphs into a haunting, string-laced middle portion before returning to square one and ending with a myriad of horns, guitars, and harmonies. Another highlight is the dark and depressing dirge-like slice of Americana entitled "When You're Tired," while "Shortsighted" has a bit of
Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" embedded within as
Best briefly sings about the trials of being in a band. The lone ordinary songs are "Unhinged" and a formulaic "Crudely Drawn." But a real highlight is the fantastic and well-crafted "Make a Book" that toes the line between pop and rock perfectly. Closing with the lovable and bittersweet epic "Wondrous Life,"
the Drams have made a damn good debut. ~ Jason MacNeil