The Main Drag

Songs of one band’s misspent youth.

There’s something strangely hormonal about The Main Drag. Between the shout-along choruses, the pathological fixation with Ben Gibbard, and the raw adolescent energy that oozes into every track, the band seems to strain at all times to be heard and loved. This eagerness to please results in a kitchen-sink approach on Yours As Fast As Mine, with glitchy electronic beats, weeping strings and punchy horns filling the arrangements. When it works, the band’s infectious spirit carries the day, as on album opener “How We’d Look On Paper” and the ambitious “A Jagged Gorgeous Winter.” The Main Drag’s misfires, however, expose a band still struggling to find itself amidst all the pageantry and hero worship. Primary singer Adam Arrigo’s standard-issue pale-and-precious indie voice doesn’t help, as it critically wounds the group during the album’s slower, more self-important moments (“Car Windows,” “Montana”). Overall, it’s a fittingly sophomoric sound for the band’s second record, but The Main Drag’s victories on Yours As Fast As Mine hint at a group capable of something much more powerful and sustained.