Dru the Drifter The Atomizer & The Plumber cassette
With upwards of 70 digital releases since 2021, I can say with complete certainty that DRU THE DRIFTER is hands-down the most overwhelming project I have been challenged to make sense of and review. This tape is one release in what seems like a musical assembly line, with albums being churned out once a month. From what I can gather, DRU THE DRIFTER is primarily a solo recording project that performs live with the help of backing band the BACK ALLEY HOOKERS. This cassette compiles two previously released digital full-lengths from November 2025 and January 2026, resulting in over an hour of material. Across that span, there are some dingy garage punk tracks that stand out. Unfortunately, they are surrounded by a much wider sprawl of ideas, including sloppy punk rock, synth-pop experimentation, and acoustic folk tracks. The sheer volume is impressive, but also exhausting. My biggest issue with this project is its seeming lack of restraint. I am not sure what is driving this sense of urgency to keep cranking out release after release on such a tight timeline, unless there is a real life Speed situation where dropping below a certain number of monthly releases triggers dire consequences. If that is the case, someone should probably check on DRU. After listening to this double full-length release, I would say there are maybe five tracks here strong enough to make a pretty killer EP. Sometimes less truly is more.
