DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE

Interview with Princess Drive online at www.repeatfanzine.co.uk - go to interviews, then 'princess drive' to see how we'd describe our sound to a brain-dead, deaf, Burberry wearing alien, who we'd like to detain without trail for 90 days and who's better out of various lower league footballers.

Radio Play
 
Steve Lamacq gave Princess Drive their first radio play, playing 'Still I Rise' on his BBC 6 Music show on 5th May.  The song before them was by Nirvana.
To Listen to the show go here 

Reviews Of Strawberry Fair 04/06/2005  

From Almost Famous (Hunts Post)

Perhaps one of the main joys of events such as the Strawberry Fair is discovering new talent, and in three piece Princess Drive I did exactly that.  Performing on the 'Future Stage' the politically aware youngsters clearly have built up a lot of anger.  Fortunately for us, this resulted in a highly enjoyable set of tight and professionally performed rock songs biting with charging riffs and even a hint of political awareness.
 
From BBC Cambridgeshite

For new music fans, the Future Stage, conveniently positioned next to the much needed information tent, provided amusement and excitement beyond all other arenas. Bands celebrated here may not be as polished as other stages, but fresh energy and reckless abandon create the sensation that here potential abounds. Redhead twins and a drummer who loves his cymbals more than the Gallagher brothers like a provocative statement make up Princess Drive. Masses of crashes, pounding tunes and big bass lines carried them through their set.

From Heavy Discipline
 
Leaving the reggae tent for the future tent was like giving up cigarettes; requiring huge amounts of mental strength, but far easier on the lungs afterwards.  And when the next band you see is Princess Drive, you wonder why people need nicotine patches altogether.  If the reggae tent was a marijuana experience, theirs was a speed and crack cocaine cocktail- instant, fuzzy, nasty and unpredictable.  But fun.  And although this band didn't need drugs (unlike the teenagers stood near me), with enough natural mind altering hormones flowing through their skinny 17 year old veins to last Pete Doherty a few hours driving them on, they made a huge impact.  Scissor kicks came and went, as did star jumps, shape throwing and eventually falling over, meaning they seem to be developing the stage presence necessary for their punk and roll anti-thems.  Go here for some PD related thrills.  Apparently important media chaps were there to see them, but I doubt they were impressed, people like that never are.

Review of "A Welcome Alternative To Filth And Violence" EP
From Lap Records / Planet Beet
 
When this first started playing, I got a huge smile on my face, as I knew that I’d enjoy this to the max! And the bass was so uber that it made my speakers cut out!! Yaaaaay!
‘This is not an exit’ is racy and cheerful with raucous vocals and it being so easy to sing to as the lyrics mainly consist of ‘This is not an exit, this is…’
‘No jail for thought’ is quite similar to ‘This is not an exit’ with it’s hook-line lyrics and thumping rhythm, but has a stunning guitar solo and a pretty adventurous bassist which makes these guys stand out from the crowd with their optimistic pop punk and disrespect for conventional song structures.

BBC Cambridgeshite Band Profile

Review of "A Welcome Alternative To Filth And Violence" EP
From Red Pages

The first track, This Is Not An Exit, is the stand out track.  It has an interesting beat, a nice bass riff, and a huge amount of energy.  Crossing between punk and heavy grunge/rock throughout, the entire EP sounds traditional yet lively.  It's clear that these guys are great to see play live.

Review of "A Welcome Alternative To Filth And Violence" EP
From WideLoad Fanzine

This demo is totally punk rock, like um safety pins are punk rock, it comes with a cover with bits torn off bookish books, and the titles on the CD look like they were done on a typewriter, and cleverly glued on with a prit-stick so they half fell off a made my CD player make a buzzing noise.  Having said that the stuff on the record also made my head buzz. It goes a long way to make me realise why most of the music around is so shit, by being a lot better than shit.

In a time where the only other bands who do star jumps are Tories and are marketed at 7 year old girls (oh yeh and there just plain shit), princess drive come as a can of vitriol ready to burn the houses of boy band-busted asshole shit wits to the ground.  But its not just that this is a band that sounds cool and makes you want to club record executives dead, that’s not hard, and the likes of Miss Black America and countless other bands make me feel the same.

There is something more important about bands like princess drive. They are going out and challenging people and what they think that there local scene should be about. Frankly I’ve had enough of bands that are clearly good at playing music and can write clever fucking songs about going to the shops or something shite, but at the end of the day are saying fuck all about the world, or even worse are positively pessimistic about any chance of changing it.

That’s why this is an important demo to get and listen to, and why this is an important band to get playing in your town, cos they are about revolution about changing things about changing what music is about. An actually I’m not all that down with all these people writing stuff about Princess Drive being “old school” or “70’s” cos I think this is now music and we need more of it. I mean like actually the other bands around that play depressing guitar music are just rehashing year after year of depression with Thatcher and Blair or whatever.

And I think this is totally smashed to pieces in the fabulous no jail for thought. Its like people have had to put up with depression for years but now there is a chance to really change things, that new punk bands that haven’t been tainted by growing up with Thatcher and the Tories are gonna be able to lead a fight that can really destroy. Cos so many people are just so bored with the way things are going, the only thing to do is tear the walls of the world down and never put ‘em back again.

Review of "A Welcome Alternative To Filth And Violence" EP
From Drowned In Sound

The problem with current music, Princess Drive inform us, "Is not the lack of talent, nor opportunity, but the lack of conviction and belief that yes, three chords/a rhyme/an attitude can change everything for everyone". Princess Drive are not symptomatic of this problem. They have a mission, a manifesto, a meaning to their music, and they want to change the world. 

They also have tunes. Their songs work with the method of noise assault, marrying grungey rock’n’roll to punk vocals and then swamping the whole thing under a wave of fuzz and clatter. The sneer-loaded vocals inhabit that familiar halfway point between singing and shouting, and though their mood is always angry the emotion never overwhelms the song - the two work together and there’s much merit here on both the musical and the manifesto fronts. It’s very young music, very impulsive and instinctive and extremely human and real. It’s refreshing, in a world of market-savvy concept and polished front, to come across a band who just point their guitars and aim for the finish line. Whose songs feel this instinctive and honest. There’s always room in my world for bands who play music because they’re driven to, rather than because they think it’ll make them cool and get them into clubs where the cocaine flows like tap water for those with a name on the It List. Long may Princess Drive continue to care this passionately.

FIVE OUT OF FIVE

Review of "A Welcome Alternative To Filth And Violence" EP
From God Is In The TV Fanzine

Princess Drive place themselves as part of the Repeat massive in Cambridge, basically a bunch of groups united in their frustration, alienation boredom and despair with culture and music, sound familiar? Like the Clash in a straight jacket princess drive’s melodic insurgent noise is taught and in patches promising. However in all honesty opener “This is not an exit” is pretty rough and ready punk rock nonsense, whereas “No Jail for thought” is a highlight here sounding like the early Manics being battered around the chops by the Clash. Last track “Still I rise” has a wistful promise reminiscent of the mellower early Manics b-sides. Princess Drive seriously know how to push the buttons of emotion passion with their simple take on music “words/guitars/melody” they are making a break from their small town dissatisfaction. A promising effort that is only let down by the DIY nature of its sound from the amateur recording, and the sometimes weak vocals this demo is in need of some serious production sheen. However once they find a decent producer and studio you can see that Princess drive have real punk rock promise.

Live at the Portland Arms 16/10/2004
From www.rhythmonline.co.uk

Last Saturday night saw a contender for our gig-of-the-year nominations (see below...) For only a fiver, yes only £5, the R*E*P*E*A*T night at the Portland Arms in Cambridge gave us a corking line-up of great acts. First on were Princess Drive. We've written about these young guys before (political engagement, passion, '70s style punk, you know the ones), and they put on another great set this time - if anything their live show has improved, and made for a great opener to the evening.

From Cambridge Evening News, 14/10/2004
by David Williams

KINGS OF THE WILD FRONTIER
First Cambridge, then Earls Court.  Princess Drive won't stop until they take over the world.

The spirit of punk lives on in Cambridge.  Princess Drive borrow from the songwriter of Joe Strummer and take lyrical inspiration from incendiary authors to create some true old-school rock and roll.
Teen siblings Tom and Pat King spearhead the band and have just completed their first EP.  In keeping with the DIY attitude, the lads have recorded A Welcome Alternative To Filth And Violence off their own backs and intend to dish free copies out to anyone within spitting distance.
Tom, 17, said "We've played benefit gigs for causes we believe in, such as the Anti-Nazi League and Stop The War Coalition, and we enjoy reading great book bys great authors.  We might not have all the answers but we're asking the questions that need to be asked and I don't see a lot of others doing that, especially in young bands.  I think we're average.  But only because our standards are so high.  We won't be happy until we're playing to you and your friends in Earls Court in three years time."
Richard Rose, figurehead of Cambridge's legendary R*E*P*E*A*T label and fanzine had this to say about the band: "Princess Drive are a ginger headed runaway train of attitude, ideas and adrenaline, an impatience with the past combined with an intelligent homage to the heroes of pogo, page and politics.  They deserve your serious attention."
In fact he likes them so much he's put them on as main support on Saturday to the mighty Corporation:Blend - one of the new breed of London bands like Bloc Party and The Others to have been swept up by labels.  The Portland Arms gig is £5 on the door and also features Whiteline and Nebraska.  The action starts at around 8pm.  For more about Princess Drive, check out their website at www.geocities.com/princess_drive.

Review of "A Welcome Alternative To Filth And Violence" EP 
from R*E*P*E*A*T fanzine

Somewhere (but not on this demo)  Princess Drive have a line saying something like "You once thought you could change the world, But now you just want to change yourself". This dichotomy is an important one in the history of rock; the angry, activist sound of bands who hate the way the world is and will not let it rest (The Clash, Miss Black America, The Specials, Kinesis) versus the endless inward looking lyrical and musical meanderings of the self obsessed, self disgusted tortured souls (Radiohead, Pink Floyd and (heresy of heresies!) some of Richey Manic's excesses).

Princess Drive know which side they fall on. From the first drum beat of first track 'This Is Not An Exit', this is obviously music that wants to make YOU want to change the world, rather than wallowing, stoned in obedience, admiring guitar solos. The whole demo has a very Clash feel to it; as another reviewer pointed out, it is very refreshing in itself to see teenagers wanting to be Joe Strummer and co rather than some dumb American 'punk' band singing about their skateboard, their ganga or their girlfriend (these people are usually heterosexual boys!). The way the singer delivers the lyrics has a certain Strummer feel to it; not just the sound of his voice but also in the passion and conviction of the performance. The spikey guitar playing and frantic drumming completes this impression, these are no tracks to sit back, relax and take the crap to! The whole sound is held together by very accomplished, slightly funky bass riffs which keep the songs moving and keep your feet tapping, providing the framework which allows for some brilliantly messy, chaotic guitar playing, which should really have been louder and more powerful in the mix. These guitars combine with the rock steady drumming to produce a sound which I'm again going to compare to the Clash, but The Clash at their most creative, circa 'Guns of Brixton', when they were at their most inspired, open to a wide spectrum of influences from around the world, but before they disappeared up the asshole of 'world music'.

So yes Princess Drive do take their heroes but more for inspiration than adulation, and apply them to the modern world. Second track "No Jail For Thought" has a Manics' era 'Holy Bible' / Nirvana 'In Utero' feel to it, while Kinesis and Miss Black America have also obviously been playing on Princess Drive's stereo. The lyrics, while being deliberately low in the mix so you strain to hear them rather than letting them wash over you, are literate and spikey, seeming to deal with issues such as old age, freedom of expression and the desire to be an individual. As I said before, in a surprisingly coherent moment, Princess Drive are a ginger headed run away train of attitude, ideas and adrenaline, an impatience with the past combined with an intelligent homage to the heroes of pogo, page and politics. They deserve your serious attention. Whether added maturity will help them focus their anger and energy and perhaps write some killer choruses, or turn them into just another whiney white boy band wanting to change the world 'one person at a time', only the future can tell. For now, they want to plant a fuck off huge musical molotov under the thrones of complacency, greed, mediocrity and prejudice. And we love 'em for it!

Review of "A Welcome Alternative To Filth And Violence" EP  
From www.rhythmonline.co.uk

Also gracing our stereo has been A Welcome Alternative to Filth and Violence, the self-released EP from Cambridge band Princess Drive. See the review of their live performance at the Portland a few weeks ago (further down this column) for an indication of how we rate this lot. Engaged, political, punky, and a great blast of youthful energy!

Review of "A Welcome Alternative To Filth And Violence" EP
William Burroughs, The Naked Lunch

Rock and roll adolescent hoodlums storm the streets of all nations.  They rush into the Louvre and throw acid in the Mona Lisa’s face.  They open zoos, insane asylums, prisons, chop the floor out of passenger plane lavatories, shoot out lighthouses, file elevator cables to one thin wire, turn sewers into the water supply, throw sharks and sting rays into swimming pools, in nautical costumes ram the Queens Mary full speed in to New York harbour, play chicken with passenger planes and busses, they shit on the floor of the united nations and wipe their ass with treaties, pacts, alliances.

Live at Portland Arms, Cambridge, 12/08/2004
From www.rhythmonline.co.uk

Live at The Man On The Moon, Cambridge, 8/01/2004
From WideLoad Fanzine

I like Princess Drive’s music a lot; it’s raw and harsh. It’s full of impact! That’s what punk rock should be about.  They played with a sort of swagger about themselves, they didn’t care that I was the only person who turned up, and they didn’t care whether anyone was listening to them. They were lapping it up, they were jumping around and just feeding off each other. They weren’t bored or anything.  Tom and Pat were running around and jumping off the stage and walking around the floor which would have been cool if there were people there.  Princess Drive are political, I dunno if they know it but they are, and they pull it off. Not like Seymour Glass or any other fuck who wants moan about how we should be nice to everyone and then the bad fascist fucks will go away, this is proper politics, its full of anger and emotion. Whatever they try and do next I’m sure it will be cool.

Live at The Portland Arms, Cambridge, 19/06/2003 
from R*E*P*E*A*T Fanzine

Princess Drive gave me the impression of knowing how their music should be (loud, punk, rock, politics and disillusion, a hint of funk) and of having the basic ingredients of riffs and shouting nailed down, without quite having figured out how to shape that into a song which goes somewhere and sounds like a complete tune.
They've got all the right ideas, all the ingredients for something that utterly rocks are there, they just need to move from a set of worthy but disjointed musical ideals to putting those ideas together into something coherent. I await further developments with interest...

Live at Strawberry Fair, 07/06/2003 
From R*E*P*E*A*T Fanzine

When I saw the bass player practising his star jumps rather than tuning his guitar I knew we were in for something exciting next- Princess Drive are a ginger headed run away train of attitude, ideas and adrenaline, an impatience with the past combined with an intelligent homage to the heroes of pogo, page and politics.
These include The Manics, Miss Black America in their funkier guise and The Clash. Princess Drive's cover of 'Guns of Brixton' is a good indicator of their take on the aesthetics of punk and the way it should mix with politics. This is a band learning fast and with a world to gain, watch this space.

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