Fifteen years into their career, upstate New York’s Driftwood seems to finally be firing on all cylinders. That’s not to say their earlier efforts were not good, but December Last Call, their latest, has an effortless charm that the band seems to have been building up to over their last few albums.
The opening title track, with its solid mid-tempo beat, sets the album up perfectly with the powerful mix of acoustic and electric guitars, violin, and impressively sweet harmonies. It’s the male/female vocals, with Dan Forsyth and Claire Byrne trading off lead duties from song to song, that really sets them Driftwood apart from their contemporaries.
On “Every Which Way But Loose,” the band amps up the energy for one of the album highlights, a barroom singalong that gets better with each additional listen. Forsyth said he was listening to a lot of Eric Clapton when they were writing this one, specifically Slowhand, and you can definitely hear that influence in the guitars. “Just a Kid” is equally catchy, with Byrne taking her turn at the mic. But the band is just as effective in the mellower moments like “Float Away” and “Continental Lincoln,” the latter being another strong standout moment from the album.
The record, the band’s first one five years, was self-produced and recorded in the basement guitarist Joe Kollar’s house. The band certainly took their time in working through December Last Call and as a result there is an unrushed vibe to the album. While Driftwood juggles fast and slow moments throughout, thematically they also deftly toggle between looking back with nostalgia at childhood, while also navigating the present as parents.
At just nine tracks, the album managed to avoid the tendency to add a few filler tracks just to get the count to a dozen songs and makes a lean record without any weak moments. Blending laidback Americana with the occasional rowdy roots rock number, the band has found a beautiful middle crowd to ride.