I can't quite figure out Drift Effect. This is another one of those CDs that every time I listen to it, I get ready to write it off about halfway through the second song, but then somehow by the end I'm wondering what bothered me so much about it. Of course, then I start it again, and wonder what I thought was salvageable in the second half... In particular, there's something that rubs me the wrong way about the vocals of the second track/first proper song, "Shake" (the CD opens with 36 seconds of heartbeat and ambient noise). "Shake" even has a decent guitar riff to start things off, but then the vocals kick in and I'm reminded of a maybe sick or whiny Eddie Vedder. The next song, "Systematic," sets the vocal pace for pretty much the rest of the CD though, incidentally much more of a Chris Cornell style. The track even ends with a grooving breakdown that would make Audioslave proud, except that the melodic guitar line over top of it doesn't have a crazy effects chain.
"The Clutter" is the first track that really grabbed my attention in a positive way, with a hooky chorus about the tendency to get caught up in the small stuff at the expense of the big things going on that we should be indignant about (specifically referring to the war in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, and freedoms being dried up by Homeland Security/the Bush administration). As the CD goes on, there are more of the Audioslave-y tracks, such as "Legend of a Native Woman" and "Not for Good," some slower ballads in "Indecision," "Solstice," and the 6-minute title track, and another primarily ambient track called "Listen to Me." (Yes, that also means the end result is only 10 real songs on a 12-track disc.) Incidentally, it's the slower tracks where I think Drift Effect really shines, as with the exception of "The Clutter," the heavier tracks are mostly forgettable.
I guess that all told, Drift Effect are better than the average band, or at least, they have the potential. I would say that if they find their way to a style that focuses more on the mellow tracks that just have tinges of heaviness, they'll really come into themselves as a band. Even so, Be Something is a decent disc worth checking out.
