Full Review: Driver F - Chase The White Whale

Posted on May 5th, 2008 by Tyler, under Full Reviews.

Drive F is one of those bands that from the moment you listen to them you can tell they have something special. With multiple vocals parts, constant guitars, horns, and an ever moving bass line ‘Chase The White Whale’ is sure to become a classic.

You may hear that there are horns in a rock band and instantly think, “ska”. Honestly the horns blend in quite well and until I had the actual CD (instead of streaming from myspace) I wasn’t even aware there were even horns in the band. Just for a second clarification, this is not a ska band, or album in anyway.

“Two Words Mr. President…” is an amazing opening track and probably one that will stick in your head long after you’ve listened to the song. The chorus is admittedly the strongest part and the heart and soul of the song. The line, “Angel won’t you shed your wings and stay awhile” makes up the short chorus but packs a punch in its execution.

The band’s high energy rock style is definitely reminiscent to that of Saves The Day’s older album, “Can’t Slow Down” where the band was not as formulaic and just made music how they thought it should be. There is also a part of ‘Chase The White Whale’ which is similar to Taking Back Sunday. Part of that maybe the multiple vocal lines with people singing different parts or maybe the strained almost yelling but not quite singing. Driver F never rips off either band but again has this innocence about the music they make and the feeling that it was just the kind of music they wanted to listen to even if no one else did.

“At Least We Are Civilized” is one of the songs that stand out the most, at least upon first listen. The song starts with a lo-fi guitar, presumably an unplugged electric, and vocals that aim for a few notes just out of range. The song couldn’t have sustained intrigue for the entire thing, half way through the song the quality goes up on the vocals, guitar and the rest of the band joins in. There is an fair amount of charm attached to the song for the fact it goes out on a limb and tries something different from the other tracks.

The melodies are rich but not obvious at all points, in the same way The Movie Life’s album ‘This Time Next Year’ was. I was a fan of the band and album after just one listen but listening to the record over and over again revels more details and fine points that absolutely make it great.

Track Listing
1. Two Words Mr. President: Plausible Deniability
2. Temple of Doom
3. Suncrusher
4. I Have Better Things to Do Tonight Than Die
5. At Least We Are Civilized
6. Remember When That Train Wrecked Our Lifestyle?
7. The Inevitability of Closing A Hat
8. Bury Me With My Money
9. Water Fun Express
10. Lie 248