Grovesnor | “Drive Your Car”

ART OF SONG
Grovesnor
“Drive Your Car”
Drive Your Car
2008 | Greco Roman

Let me start this off by saying that I learn about a lot of great music from my friends. If your friends don’t influence your music taste, I have three words for you: find better friends. Trust me, you’ll be better off in the long run.

My friend Chris listens to electro. I generally see it as great to have around for dance parties, but overall something I don’t really sit down and listen to. He recently compiled an excellent mixtape called “Midnite Lazer Vol. 1”, meant to bring about an 80s, pastel t-shirts and ridiculous sunglasses, palm trees, coked-out kind of vibe, I gave it a listen and kind of forgot about it. I’m in New York City, when am I going to be riding in a convertible with a Member’s Only jacket and neon tights?

Then I talked to my friend Ryan, who had also traveled on Chris’ sonic journey (I’m hoping in a DeLorean). He told me he couldn’t get over this one song, called “Drive Your Car.” See, kids? Listen to your friends; they have your best interests at heart.

Grovesnor, the band behind the track, was formed by ex-Hot Chip drummer Rob Smoughton. Now a full six-piece band (for live purposes), their next show is September 4th in Venice. It’s not Vice City, but it’ll do.

The song starts out with a catchy synth line that seems to move you back in time as it picks up, getting you right where it wants you. It brings in the echo-y drum machine noises, a must on any 80s influenced track, and what I fervently wish is a keytar. It’s not, but a girl can dream.

Smoughton sings in an upper register, with a way of sliding his notes around that first made me think of Passion Pit. The line “People dancing toe to toe/ To talking in circles/ On the way home” is probably one of the best examples of that similarity. But the real gem of the song is the chorus. Imbued with just the right amount of pain from unrequited feelings, it is where “Drive Your Car” hits its semisweet peak. “I would drive your car home every night/ Just to feel the open road, just to feel it/ But I miss you and I couldn’t get it right/ My love/ I’m sure I could be what you’re dreaming of.”

The song then moves into some “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”-style bubble noises and a synth solo that channels its inner theremin, sliding all over the scale, but still remaining catchy and danceable. This detour comes to a close as the “oom pa” backing beats prepare you for the next verse. It’s an expertly crafted movement from one aural theme to the next, with the right amount of sound effects and melodic variance to keep me interested.

The second verse boasts some pretty impressive wordplay. I didn’t quite catch it the first time, but on subsequent listens, I took note. “You’ve got to make sure to watch for laissez-fair sommeliers/ And those hoteliers with satin stairs/ And baby they will entertain you to get you on your own/ You’ve got to make sure you’re holding on.” Hints of excess and naivety paint a picture of what must have been a pretty good party. If only it hadn’t all gone to shit on the ride home.

The music video for the track is almost exactly what you’d expect: a dancing girl rendered in colorful hues, and a wire-frame car that looks like it belongs in an old Mac screensaver. Plus delightful pixilated transitions and other rainbow cartoon imagery. Grovesnor likes rainbows, I’m not going to hate on them for it. I bet they also like unicorns. Good for them.

I ask a lot of my dance music, but “Drive Your Car” provides. And, with the original mix coming in at under 4:30, it’s not ridiculously self-indulgent. That factor alone sets it apart from the decade it emulates, but everything else about the track is delightfully and unabashedly dated. So remember: listen to your friends, respect the 80s, and buy a keytar. The ladies will love you for it.

by allison levin