Keyboards (a micro-Korg synthesizer) mixed with classic Steve Stevens (Billy Idol's guitarist) style licks on axe by Tony Gare go together nicely in the blend that Toronto (by way of Calgary) band Drive Faster have invented together. It is not a kind of sound I am generally known for liking and I would never have sought it out. I happened to see them play at the El Mocambo sometime ago and liked what I heard.

To me if a band solely plays synthesized stuff it ceases to be rock 'n' roll and often just a little can be too much for my liking. But when added to more conventional instrumentation it can be a very appealing change of pace. That is what this is but with a retro 80s electro-pop feel. This is a band often compared with acts like Metric but only due to superficial similarities.

The perceived similarity to Metric was one of the things I heard about when I asked around before their set started trying to see if the others in the audience knew anything/gauge whether they had a following. Someone else told me they were from Calgary and having lived there for six years growing up I immediately started to wonder if their lyrics were about telling the rest of Canada east of Manitoba to "Fuck off".

Of course the least expected comment one guy offered was "Ahhhh ya gotta check out the singer, man. Her ass is so perfect it's like an optical illusion." The moment was inopportune as my swallow of beer went down the wrong way and I spit out some of it then began coughing and wheezing upon hearing that particular observation. I was still coughing when the band hit the stage and intermittently through the first couple of songs of their set.

The stage set up for the performance they had essentially ceded the show to their vocalist Angela Saini who doubles as the keyboardist. She was the only one of the band who looked like knew she was playing a concert that night. Her bandmates were dressed like they got there after working at a building site.

As I said I liked what I heard and made sure to snag one of the free stickers with the band's name on it off of the merch table so I wouldn't forget their name. Fortunately they had the foresight to stamp their website URL on the bottom of it. Almost a year later, upon receiving the e-mail request I had intended for so long to send, they hooked me up with their CD.

On that 2010 CD 'Frame Of Mind' there are some sublime statements like 'Before I Dry' and 'Ripping Out the Pages'. 'My Old Self' is another solid track which anchors the album. The title track is the best example of Saini's sweet vocals.

A solid New Wave sound on 'Thinking Of You' is a prime example of what this band can too with a straight ahead rock approach. I also liked the catchy choruses of 'All In Good Time' and 'Raindrop' which is an acoustic version of 'Before I Dry' with a less intricate instrumental arrangement but more of an emotional vocal statement. I don't prefer the unplugged version but it makes for a nice ballad to close out the album.

Tracks like 'Suitcase' feature a use of computerized sounds which I didn't find to my liking. Frankly I found the 'Suitcase' track to be downright irritating. It was the only track on the whole album I didn't like. There can't be good without bad and sometimes you have to sit through stuff you don't like to get to the kind of thing you really will enjoy.

www.myspace.com/drivefasterband