Remember the old indie/emo/punk records that paved the way for all the recycled crap we have now? Indian Summer, Boy's Life, Drive Like Jehu, Giant's Chair, etc.; remember the way such records used to sound, before anyone had a blueprint for it?

Enter Torino, Italy's Disco Drive, a band with just that type of edge. At moments poppy punk, at moments as art-pop as The Crownhate Ruin on a particularly bitter day, and always surrounded by high calibre drumming, crisp guitars, and energetic vocals, Disco Drive grasp a pop-punk style melded with an east coast hardcore sound. The shift in styles and moods is handled well, moving from palatable upbeat rhythms to enjoyable experimental sounds. Worth checking out.

-Dave Mandell