I've been listening to this album ALOT lately.
Its funny how you can hear about a band over and over again, and never check them out. I have no real reason why it took me so long to listen to Drive Like Jehu. Their name would constantly pop up in my “music quests.” They were compared to lots and lots of bands that I like. And for some reason, it was only last year that I heard them. YES, LET THE CRUCIFIXION COME! Haha.
The band only released two albums. “Yank Crime” was their second. I think a lot of people, myself included, view this as the better album. Which is strange because it was a major label release. And as a lot of people know, often times when a indie band gets signed to a major, they change. And usually not for the better. Somehow, this album is even more aggressive than their first album. Taking all things into consideration, this is quite a feat. Their intense energy is constant through the entire album. Whether it be in the slower song “Luau” or the album’s opening track “Here Come The Rome Plows”. Rick Froberg & John Reis’s guitar interplay set a new standard for the post hardcore genre. Its right up there with Guy and Ian of Fugazi if you ask me. “Do You Compute?” might be one of the best examples of this on the Yank Crime album. Its not hard to see why Drive Like Jehu are/were cited at a big influence on the then emerging “emo” scene. There are a lot of elements from the music on this album that reappear in later “emo” releases, as well as post hardcore albums. Its great that such a short lived band could have such wide spread influence. Its just a bummer that they were so short lived in the first place.
Please buy it if you like it!
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