ALBUM REVIEW: Living Proof – Drain
Not to dwell too much on a time most of us would probably prefer to forget, but April 2020 definitely worked out pretty well for DRAIN. After years of often overlooked graft and a couple of killer EPs, the Santa Cruz bruisers put out their debut full-length California Cursed just as most of the world was starting to get to grips with a terrifying new reality. On paper there probably couldn’t have been a worse time to release a mosh-ready hardcore record, but the album’s impact was immediate. The four-piece became one of the first – and for many still the best – breakout hardcore bands of the pandemic; Epitaph Records snapped them up as quick as they could, and they’ve kept the momentum rolling ever since to bring them to their equally brilliant sophomore effort Living Proof.
Even with a first album as good as California Cursed, DRAIN have definitely grasped that it is best not to repeat yourself entirely second time around; there are a few surprises here – two really – that immediately mark Living Proof out from its predecessor. Coming into the record blind, the first of these is Intermission, which kicks off the second half with a guest feature from rapper SHAKEWELL and a piano/trap beat combo which segues impressively seamlessly into a thick and bruising hardcore groove. If you’ve been following the singles, you’ll be familiar with the second already: a cover of the DESCENDENTS’ melodic hardcore anthem Good Good Things. It’s a great song left well intact here, with the band beefing it up just a touch as vocalist Sammy Ciaramitaro absolutely nails the more melodic style which he did admit to us required a little bit of help in the studio.
To be clear though, no-one should rush to congratulate a band just for taking a couple of big swings. In DRAIN’s case, praise is in order because in both instances they actually hit their targets, and in turn lend the record a little more welcome variation than their generally more relentless debut. That said, the band still definitely know what they do best, and they do plenty of it here. The first half of the record is all hardcore ragers – five tracks all landing between the two to three-minute mark and all majoring heavily on the expected combo of beefy crossover thrash riffing and massive chug-heavy breakdowns. As before, Ciaramitaro remains an obvious focal point; charismatic, furious, confrontational and motivational all at once, and with one of the most recognisable snarls in hardcore to boot.
Ultimately that’s all people really want from DRAIN. No-one is under any illusion that they’ve reinvented the wheel here, but the fact remains that they are one of the best bands playing this style of hardcore in the world today. They sound as sharp as ever thanks to production from their longtime friend Taylor Young and mixing by Jon Markson (DRUG CHURCH, KOYO), and even as they push into new territories on the second half of the record they still find time to throw out three more high aggro crowd pleasers. At the heart of it all is a theme of perseverance – not a blind optimism but an embrace of struggle in the pursuit of self-empowerment summed up perfectly in a lyric like “Pick up all the hate and all the pain / And throw it back into their face” from the album’s closing title track.
Now obviously DRAIN are hardly the first hardcore band to devote their lyrical efforts to this sort of thing, but much like their music they just do it with such passion, conviction and quality that it is impossible to listen to Living Proof without coming away with a smile on your face. It’s great that this album tries and nails a couple of new things, but even if it didn’t it would remain a top drawer heavy hardcore record; with a compact 25-minute runtime, it generally requires at least two listens every time just to fully experience all of the thrills it has to offer. It’s a great shout for a summer soundtrack especially – if we ever get one in the UK that is – and there’s no doubt at all that it’ll be even better live so definitely don’t miss that if and when DRAIN come to your town.
Rating: 9/10
Living Proof is set for release on May 5th via Epitaph Records.
Like DRAIN on Facebook.