A theme in many horror movies involves not falling asleep, well don’t sleep on the Halloween-obsessed pop-punk band Driveways.
The trio from Boston have been flying under the radar (like UFOs ) since 2016 releasing a slew of EPs, and singles. In 2020, the band’s debut album “October Forever” marked a debut record that brought back memories to when kids heard Alkaline Trio for the first time- pop-punk with a darker disposition. The new EP “Skeptic” (out Oct. 29) and “October Forever” both repeated the title of the release and theme repeatedly throughout the songs, which is a clever storytelling device.
“A loose concept album is actually a really great way to describe what we tried to do lyrically with ‘October Forever’ and ‘Skeptic,’”, said guitarist Pat Finnegan. “Ever since our first EP in 2016, we’ve had repeating lyrics, words, or phrases that have shown up in every song on our EPs and albums. We try to use those lyrics to tie songs together thematically and express some of the larger ideas on a project. We definitely tried to make those connections more noticeable on ‘October Forever’ and ‘Skeptic’.”
Driveways sound like an aggregation of all that is “Warped Tour” generation- from emo, to metal core to pop-punk- think a spooky version of Four Year Strong with occasional synth parts that sound straight out of “A Nightmare On Elm Street.”
“Like most kids who grew up in the late 90s and early 2000s, blink-182 had a massive influence on our sound,” Finnegan said. “Especially as a three piece, a lot of my guitar playing and Derek’s (Serino) bass style is heavily influenced by blink. We’re also huge fans of post-hardcore bands like Thursday, The Receiving End of Sirens, and Saosin. (Drummer) Ryan (Passariello) has gotten me into some heavier bands like Oceans Ate Alaska and August Burns Red. Derek and Ryan also played in some heavier bands growing up and I know Ryan’s drumming is hugely influenced by heavier bands in the scene.”
“Skeptic” has two songs specifically mentioning UFOs- “Telescope” and “UFOs In The Sky.” While the band hasn’t experienced any paranormal activity or had UFO sightings, they are all fans of science fiction and astronomy.
“I’m a nerd ,so I was really interested in some of the UFO videos that got declassified this year by the government and Tom DeLonge,” said Finnegan.” ‘UFOs in the Sky’ was one of the first songs we worked on for this EP, and it was definitely inspired by UFOs sightings being in the news. I thought that it would paint a good visual and work well as a metaphor for some of the larger themes on the EP like skepticism and constantly feeling unsure about certain situations.”
The ability to take words like skeptic and obsession and put a spooky spin on them, is a strong attribute that lends to the band's aesthetic and reminiscent of bands like Alkaline Trio, Salem, and AFI, and in the end, the music serves as a perfect soundtrack to the fall.
“The first line in the chorus of ‘Obsession’ and the last line in the bridge of ‘Skeptic’ were some of the first words that came to mind and they just kind of stuck,” said Finnegan. “ All three of us love Halloween, horror movies, and the fall, and ever since ‘Night Terrors, ‘ we’ve tried to make our albums have a spooky/fall aesthetic while still relating to some larger theme. Our fans associate us with the entire month of October now, which is pretty awesome.”
-MIKE DAMANTE
If you are a fan of pop-punk, Mike Damante’s latest book “Hey Suburbia: A guide to the emo/pop-punk rise” is out now, and features interviews with Alkaline Trio, blink-182. Descendents, New Found Glory and others.