Chicago post-hardcore act Droughts’ long awaited LP, Stay Behind, delivers the band’s first full-length piece of music in their six year career.
With Stay Behind, Droughts hones their simplistic, dense sound into a single piece reminiscent of earlier post-hardcore acts like Shotmaker as well as more recent bands like Native and These Arms Are Snakes.
Those familiar with Droughts’ previous work will recognize the bass driven rhythms and precise guitar lines that show the band doing what they do best: creating layers of sound where the high and low frequencies act independently from one another, driving as one. The combination of drums and bass control the low end through the off-kilter meter of their songs while guitarists Will Seal & Nick Spiese give that sweet, simple guitar driven goodness that creates an ear catching melody over the changing rhythms.
Closing track “Never Done” begins with the lines “I’ve been nothing but a waste of space the past few days/ My body is fed up with the daily routines of yesterday” summing up the record with a sense of exhaustion. But now, four years in the making, the release of Stay Behind carves out a path of hope for a better tomorrow.
With Stay Behind, Droughts champion their poignant brand of melody driven post-hardcore while moving forward in a way that allows their sound to expand in a direction that is undeniably all their own.