DRIFT EFFECT 'Be Something' RATING: 6/10

By RYAN MAVITY

Demo tapes and first albums often can be fascinating after a band achieves some bit of mainstream success because they usually reveal a group in its raw, garage band form. Bands often need time to evolve, grow and find their sound.  For instance, take one of Drift Effect’s obvious influences, Soundgarden, whose early recordings were based in power metal, as opposed to the psychedelic, Zeppelin-influenced sound they made them famous.

I’m not sure where Drift Effect will go, but based on the sounds of their debut album there is still some room to grow. As it’s currently constructed, the band is a bit of an uneasy mix of vintage Soundgarden filtered through Incubus. The band has some good moments in them, particularly when they crank the amps up to 11 and rock out, like the ending to “Shake” and “Legend of a Native Woman,” which sounds like a cover of something off the Ultramega OK CD.

The quiet moments aren’t quite as good. The band is trying to capture the moody atmospherics and mysticism as Tool, or the soft emotion of Pearl Jam (“On a Hill”) but seldom carves out its own identity. The music is well done, but Drift Effect never separates itself from its obvious influences. If anything, it makes you yearn for the sources. But the band deserves a mulligan on this, strictly because their ability is obvious; see “Not For Good” or “No Rides,” the latter of which shows an interesting direction. So, we can certainly give Drift Effect some time to work out their sound. After all, who would have known that the same band that recorded the Screaming Life/Fopp record could also produce Superunknown?