Everybody’s Learning How

Throw on your body glove, spread on some wax, and dive headfirst into another addition to 2010’s surf-a-palooza. Water sports aside, The Drums’ self-titled full-length fairs quite well against blog buzz duo Best Coast and aquatic sound connoisseurs Surfer Blood.

Mixing ’60s girl-pop jangly cuteness with drowsy, Morrissey-like crooning, tracks like “Best Friend” and “Let’s Go Surfing” ruthlessly play to the album’s summer release. Slightly tongue-in-cheek innocence with direct lyrical references to childhood games and casual whistling should pique the interest of college freshmen returning home for the summer and post-grads in pre-career limbo.

“Skippin’ Town” and “Down By The Water” harness the reverb-laden techniques of Brian Wilson in his sunshine pop prime. The Ben E. King-esque bassline, sad tambourine, wet snare, and Beach Boys harmonies of “Down By the Water” would sound just fine dropped in a couple episodes of “Saved By the Bell,” when Zack and gang were working Stacey Carosi’s beach resort. Music always sounds better in the context of ’90s teen sitcoms, don’t it?

“I Need Fun in my Life” is definitely Brooklyn. Post-punk fans can’t help but appreciate the urban tendencies hidden so carefully behind the West Coast fantasy that is The Drums. Authentic surf rock or not, The Drums’ pop sensibility provides contrast to the lo-fi/noise aspects of Wavves and The Pains of Being Pure At Heart’s brand of summertime jingles.