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Apr 05, 2010 By John Everhart Photography by Crackerfarm The Drums

The Most Anticipated Albums of 2010 section in Under the Radar‘s Winter 2010 Issue includes a short article on The Drums’ debut album. We’ve now posted the full Q&A of that interview with the band.

I caught up with Brooklyn via Florida act The Drums in mid-January at their East Williamsburg apartment, somewhere between the moribund Marcy projects and the urbane bastion of hipness that is Bedford Avenue. Apropos, given that the band seem like misfits in today’s Brooklyn scene, their insular milieu wedged somewhere between such somber Factory Records acts as The Wake and blithe ‘50s surf culture dreams. Speaking as they prepared for their highly anticipated sold out Bowery Ballroom gig, which came on the heels of an NME cover story, Radio 1 airplay in the U.K., and numerous celebrity endorsements, the band hadn’t changed a bit since I’d last talked to them six months earlier at Brooklyn’s Automotive High School, as honest and sweet as their music would lead you to believe. And following up an escapist EP, Summertime!—hearkening to a simpler time lifted straight from the beach fantasy of a Frankie Avalon film—the band hint that their upcoming LP will exhibit a certain gravitas, without sacrificing the band’s essential elements: the fulsome melodies, sprightly hand-claps, vulnerable lyrics, and generous ethos. A very truncated version of our discussion appeared in the last print issue of Under the Radar. Here’s the unexpurgated, complete transcript of my conversation with singer Jonathan Pierce, guitarist Jacob Graham, and drummer Connor Hanwick. Click here to read the full interview.