Drive By Argument

May 16 2008 By Michael Pringle

Band formed in Ayr release their debut album.

The eagerly awaited self-titled debut album from Drive By Argument is now in the shops and available for download.

The celebratory launch party took place on Monday night at the former Classic Grand cinema in Glasgow, the venue once famous for it’s adult movies and Mac-wearing clientele has now reinvented itself as another welcome addition to the live music scene in Scotland.

Drive By Argument were formed four years ago, thrown together as part of their course in the Ayr Campus of the University of Paisley and asked to produce five songs. Only two of the band members knew each other before that fateful day.

They were to eventually drop out of their uni courses in order to concentrate on the band as a full time venture. Although formed in Ayr, two of them, guitarist Colin Keenan and drummer Lewis Gardner hail from South Lanarkshire.

They have already built up a strong following, which was reflected in the audience, by playing live throughout the country and have appearances at T in the Park, Rockness and the Download festivals under their belt.

They took to the stage and immediately hit the ground running as they launched into their latest single release -  Dance Like No One’s Watching. As the final bars of the song hung in the air lead singer Stoke, nicknamed after his hometown, proclaimed triumphantly, “it’s been a long time coming but it’s finally here”.

As they resonated in the humid venue air, Stoke’s vocals sounded Smiths-esque, more a fusion of Robert of The Cure and his namesake Paul from Maximo Park than the enigmatic Morrissey.

It’s easy to see how they have drawn comparisons with Panic at the Disco who they supported last year.

The band went on to take the crowd through a power packed performance that seemed to get more powerful as their set progressed.

The dance-tinged - We Techno Prisoners, was followed by their debut single - Sex Lines are Expensive Comedy, which was re-released last year after an original run of only a few thousand copies.

The band left the stage briefly, only to reappear for a two-song encore finishing with the excellent - The Sega Method.

Radio One’s, Vic Galloway has chosen the debut release as Album of the Month for May on his show, national airplay will open the ears of the masses to the band’s electro-indie and no doubt win them an even bigger army of fans, of that there can be no argument.