Drain keeps the hardcore party thumping on …Is Your Friend

Opener “Stealing Happiness From Tomorrow” is the longest and most structurally expansive of the record's offerings. Kicking off the album with a grimy bass line, the track bursts into a rowdy hardcore banger engineered specifically for dark, sweaty basement venues. YOu can almost imagine a flying kick to the face as Sammy Ciaramitaro quotes Daniel Johnston’s “True Love Will Find You In the End” of all songs just before the breakdown.

The rest of the album follows in that opener’s footsteps, but in even more condensed, explosive tunes. Tracks like “Living In A Memory” and “Nights Like These” are delightful, moshpit-ready blasts of thrashy punk energy that all come in at under 2 minutes, while “Nothing But Love” and “Darkest Days” let themselves build a bit instrumentally while still delivering that heavy bounce.

While …Is Your Friend is certainly a fun and rowdy time, it can feel a bit one-note at times. Guitarist Cody Chavez provides some fantastic, chunky riffs throughout the album, and drummer Tim Flegal lends these tracks a heavy groove, but the record does tend to stick to one specific sound without much deviation, though this is helped by barrelling through its runtime before it wears thin.

Despite that one-track mind, the album isn’t completely devoid of experimentation. “Can’t Be Bothered” ends with the track giving way to a chill hip-hop groove, and the following track “Loudest In The Room” opens with sounds of thunder and animals, making it a more atmospheric introduction than other songs on the record. “Who’s Having Fun?” is probably the most noticeable sonic tangent on the album, with a rare clean and layered vocal performance during the verses and hook, lending the track an almost CKY-like alt rock feel.

…Is Your Friend is a great, if repetitive, showing from Drain. What it lacks in variation, it makes up for it in pure, punky, body-pummeling energy. With meaty thrash riffs and an unmistakable hardcore groove, it’s a record worth making yourself familiar with.