Comprised of members of Junius, Rosetta, and City of Ships, new Brooklyn band Driftoff presents its debut release: the four-song EP, Modern Fear.
Modern Fear is set for an October 30th release on Science of Silence Records in the US, and with us for Europe.
Stream “Straphanger,” off Modern Fear, exclusively via Noisey later today!
Junius guitarist Mike Nieves describes new band Driftoff as an embrace of punk and hardcore inspirations not given the spotlight in the members’ other bands. Guitarist/vocalist Eric Jernigan, also of Rosetta and City of Ships, elaborates: “Within the first few Driftoff practices we had skeletons for the songs on Modern Fear, and it was clear they were more frenetic and intense than what we’ve done with our other projects. Driftoff found its sound organically and we continue now on this path, tapping into the energy of the punk and hardcore records we grew up with.”
With Modern Fear, these veterans have created a brief masterpiece with which to introduce their new band to the world. Four songs’ worth of urgency and radiance, Modern Fear evokes post-hardcore heroes like Quicksand, Hot Water Music, and Planes Mistaken For Stars – bands who played loud and hard and always put emotion first. With thick, luminous guitars, an ironclad rhythm section, and the three-way vocals of Nieves, Jernigan, and bassist Joel Munguia, the vibe is epic and desperate.
Also fueling Driftoff and defining its vision is New York City, the band’s adopted home. The song “Ghosts of Hart Island,” for example, takes a page from New York City history and tells a story through the eyes of a prison inmate sentenced to work on the eponymous island, just east of the Bronx, site of a mass burial ground for the city’s unknown and unclaimed. “Straphanger” tells of a life spent underground on the NYC subways.
In Jernigan’s words, “New York is unlike anywhere else in the world. Sometimes that means there are too many shows, too many friends, and too many drinks. On the other hand we’re also witness to the seemingly limitless depravity demonstrated by the surging throngs of humanity we’re constantly surrounded by. It is a self-contained bubble of madness. For us it’s an endless well of inspiration.”
Modern Fear was recorded and mixed by Will Benoit (Caspian, Constants, Junius) at The Radar Studio in Clinton, Connecticut – New England’s first and only solar-powered recording studio. Additional recording was done by Tom Tierney (Tidal Arms, Netherlands) at Spaceman Sound in Brooklyn, NY. The EP was mastered by Carl Saff (Big Business, Sweet Cobra).
