Recently I revisited the last two albums by a little known band from Boston called Drexel who disbanded in autumn of 2003. Drexel had become a seminal group to myself and my peers. Originally a punk/ska outfit with hardcore influences. It wasn’t until their last two albums in which the group broke from the confines of  the genre and created an onslaught of  fast paced “panic” rock’n'roll. It was complex yet simple. Scattered with random time changes, inventive drum pattens, layered guitars and intense vocal’s that accompany the angular yet poppy style. Drexel had become an entirely new band altogether, who drew influences from?

I’m really not sure. Their style and unconventional song strucure was original taking the listener on a roller coaster ride which lyrically seems to express the side effects of living unorganized lives. The two albums were titled “The Inevitable is Available” and “What Went Wrong”. Both album covers and graphics are identical except for the color. One red and the other blue and all tracks are nameless. The music on the albums sounds like little compartmentalized riffs and melodies that have been enlarged and repeated in a sequence until one component changes yet remains in harmony. Giving the listener a sense of urgency. The songs themselves frequently progress within each other as if mutating or growing. Beginnings and ends don’t match and the relationship between the guitars and drums is unique. Each instrument plays at different a tempo yet find a way to relate. This is a staple of the sound Drexel had created. Unfortunately Drexel decided to break up shortly after they released their last album. Released in limited quantity on a small indie label in Boston the albums have all but disappeared. Making it difficult for their music to reach anyone other than word of mouth. Perhaps it’s what the members wanted? To bow out nobbly rather than fade away.