By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
Nov. 23, 1996
The Drag is the best Britpop band in America.
Never mind that the musicians hail from Myrtle Beach, S.C., rather than Manchester, England. Unless you hear them speak with their slight Southern drawl, you’d swear this young quintet hailed from the U.K.
“It’s the haircuts and the arrogance,” explained singer Chance Walls, 22, who used to cut his bandmates’ mop-top ‘dos until the band started making some cash. “We look English and we straddle that fine line between self-confidence and arrogance. We’re going to be the best band in the world and we say that in interviews. The only bands that will say that are British.
“People compare us all the time to Oasis and these other English bands, and they say we’re copying them, but I listen to a lot of older stuff like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Herman’s Hermits and the Zombies. Anyway, if you want trace it all the way back to what it’s all about, the Beatles and the Stones were influenced by the the Mississippi blues and Elvis and Little Richard. So it all comes back to America anyhow.”
Just as England’s Bush revamped Nirvana’s Seattle sound and sold it back to America, the 4-year-old group is in tune with the British vibe and confidently serves up swirly guitars and lush harmonies as well as anyone born under the Union Jack. Touring to support its album “Satellites Beaming Back at You,” the Drag will open for the Ocean Blue Saturday11/23 at the Double Door.
Produced by former Let’s Active frontman Mitch Easter, their debut record is full of jangly pop songs driven by Walls’ impassioned vocals. Guitarists Trey McManus and Nick McNeill, bassist Billy King and drummer Chris Tucker take a backseat visually to Walls, a nimble dancer who steals James Brown’s moves bettern than Mick Jagger did.
“I’m Southern and we’re just good dancers,” Walls said, laughing. “It’s in my blood. I used to be into a lot of urban music and you just have to dance to that. That’s the thing_people tend to think that you only like the type of music that’s closest to what you’re playing, but I like music in general and not just what we’re doing.”
In fact, the band’s sophomore effort, will sound very different from “Satellites,” Walls said. “We have a lot of songs written for it already and I think they sound a bit more grown up than what we’ve got out now,” Walls said, calling from a pay phone in Philadelphia. “It wasn’t a deliberate effort. We’re just getting older and maturing and we’re going beyond the Britpop stuff.
“We’re also ready to erase all the comparisons and want to get bigger and better. I’m really into a lot of soul music. I’ve got the dance steps already so I’m working on matching the voice to the moves. We’ll see how that works out.”
If the Drag’s fans don’t like their burgeoning sound, Walls is OK with that. They’ve already experienced the building up and tearing down back home.
“A lot of people turned on us a long time ago,” he recalled. “But it’s no matter. We are still the ranking kings [there]. There’s no way to deny the fact that most of the bands [in Myrtle Beach] will never do what we’ve done. I don’t rub that in no one’s face, but that’s the truth. Even the press built us up so high they all felt the need to break us down.”
Not that any of this particularly bothers him.
“Any press is good press,” he said. Pausing, he added, “I like controversy.”
