CD Review

Drums &Tuba’s latest album Battles Ole’ plays like an attack - a full-blown assault with armies charging over the wall as bombs explode over the battlefield. Comprised of a drums (Tony Nozero) tuba (Brian Wolff) and guitar (Neil McKeeby), Drums &Tuba have added a new weapon to their arsenal for this album, one never been heard on one of their albums before…vocals. To ad fuel to the fire, Nozero adds a biting snarl that he spits out with a razor sharp edge, bringing more explosiveness to the Drums &Tuba army.

The addition of vocals brings a whole new dimension to Drums &Tuba’s sound, but the elements at the core of their unique sound are still front and center: Wolff’s frantic tuba blasts, Mckeeby’s machine gun like guitar riffs and Nozero’s aggressive drum fills.

As a band that has built its reputation on its live shows, Drums &Tuba have long struggled in bringing the intense energy, and exploratory feel of their live set to the studio. With the majority of the songs on the album clocking in around the seven-minute mark, Drums &Tuba have tried to mimic the improvisational feel of their live shows, with songs that eschew any resemblance of normality. The opening number "$2" teases with the description "rock band," while the ten minute "Magnum Opie" is an adventure in itself. Like their previous releases, Drums &Tuba will have you making your own generalizations, but Battles Ole' continues to expand on their brand of ear challenging music.