Infinite Shuffle

On the surface, the sounds emanating from The Drums’ self-titled debut full-length album are all poppy and synthy. But if you listen closely, you can definitely hear a post-punk sensibility that borrows from such forebears as The Cure and Echo & The Bunnymen.

Additionally, there’s a little taste of early punk and ’50s-style surf-pop thrown in.

Released June 7, this 12-track album is perfect summertime fare. Most of the songs are fast and free and would go well while hanging out on the beach — especially the aptly titled “Let’s Go Surfing”, which briefly samples the old kids’ tune “Shimmy Shimmy Coco Pop” and includes a whistling intro that calls to mind Peter Bjorn & John’s “Young Folks”.

Not all the songs are this peppy. Toward the end, the band slows things down on “Down By the Water” and “It Will All End in Tears”. The former actually seems to channel the Beach Boys’ “Sloop John B”.

In regards to the band’s background, The Drums are a four-piece from Brooklyn. Founding member and vocalist Jonathan Pierce was formerly the leader of Elkland, which put out a strong debut album (Golden) in 2005 before disbanding a year later.

The Drums have received a lot of critical praise during the past year and have been touring with several “It” bands from England. They recently toured the United States but are currently overseas.

To hear more from The Drums, visit their MySpace page or check them out at RCRD LBL and download some tracks, including my personal favorite, “I Felt Stupid”.