Album Review - Drive By Argument - Drive By Argument - Noize Makes Enemies

Occasionally an album comes along that is so ridden with raw emotion that it functions as a mouthpiece for everything you didn’t ever realise that you felt. It digs deep into every hidden and overt dissatisfaction, desire, need and hope in a way that denotes that the band behind it demands a closer look. Drive By Argument are that band. Musically, at times not unlike The Dykeenies or the earlier work of Taking Back Sunday, lead vocalist Stoke’s lyrics like “’cause happiness is always easy, it’s just hard to find” pour out his relatable frustrations. The album darts between Emo, Rock and Electro in a way that manages to be current and relevant but at the same time still unique. Tracks like “Lower Your Pieces” and “How Trees Sleep” show the four-piece’s vulnerability and Stoke’s vocal similarity to Bert McCracken (of The Used). Yet the schizophrenic styling of the band’s debut album infuses dark electro on “Cyclists Run Red Lights” and “We Techno Prisoners”. This modern combination of genres helped bands like Enter Shikari build a loyal fanbase last year, as well as intrinsically allowing them to achieve renowned success and 2008 looks set to see DBA do the same.