QRO MAGAZINE
cd reviews - June 26, 2013
Ted Chase
Driven
qromag.com

Rating: 7.4 out of 10

On 2011’s Rocket Surgery (QRO review), New York’s The Lost Patrol broke road & twang out of their garage & country boxes (respectively) and put them together. Driven takes stabs at other sounds, but is ultimately best when it drives down that same strong highway.

The Lost Patrol rise and fall on their new album depending on how much they choose substance over style. There is decided substance behind the slightly country trot underneath “All Tomorrow’s Promises”, while “Chance of Rain” and especially “Invincible” very effectively bring the dark fifties gothic road. Meanwhile, the cabaret numbers like “Little Black Kitten” and old-timey “Just Go” are best just as novelties (though do provide some change on the record), while Driven gets a bit too shiny in its close of “In Too Deep” and “Disguise”.

It would have been hard for The Lost Patrol to repeat the genre reinvention of Rocket Surgery, though Driven’s mix of either going straight down the same route or completely off the road can be a bit stark. But the band’s substance and skill keeps them moving forward, blacktop or dirt track.

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