A Sundae Drive Returns Stronger Than Ever on New Song
A Sundae Drive. Photo: Uncredited/Courtesy of Artist
I feel that since I started covering Houston music I’ve always said that A Sundae Drive is easily one of the most underrated bands in Houston. Mixing indie rock and mid nineties alt rock, the four-piece has always grown without compromise. At the beginning of April, the follow-up to their amazing 2024 album, The Senseless and the Sound, will release and it’s definitely worth the wait. The first single from the long-awaited album, “Boxing Day,” can be found exclusively here and takes the band in even further in their direction while adding an intensity that the band had never previously offered up.
There are remnants of this song that remind me of Rather Ripped-era Sonic Youth mixed with the post punk leanings of bands like Wire and Television. Beginning with an epic and frenzied pace that immediately shows the band in a whole new light, the song should signal that this is a completely different version of the band. The way they mix tumultuous drums with multiple guitar tracks eerily sounds like something from Joy Division back in their earlier years and steers clear from the band’s more alt rock sound of their previous works. Leading with their bassist on vocals, her mix of brooding vocals and smokily breathed words is truly amazing. While the song never loses its snap and never seems to come down from its speedy stride, there are so many elements happening here that you should find yourself placing the track on repeat again and again.
This is truly the band setting themselves into yet a stronger herd and far away from where many Houston bands are at today while they don’t disappoint in the process. You can hear “Boxing Day” as well as the rest of their new album Versailles, when A Sundae Drive plays their album release party on April 1 at White Oak Music Hall upstairs. The all ages show will feature sets from The Wheel Workers, Glass The Sky, and The Ex-Optimists with doors at 8 pm and a $7 cover.
