DROOL has been making austere and confrontational art rock since 2016. Core members Hersh D. Chabra and Ben Leach have strong roots in Chicago’s DIY community, playing in bands like Lala Lala, Labor, and Pisces at the Animal Fair. But the pair view the band as more of an ever evolving art project than a conventional punk band, maintaining an open door for collaborators and constantly experimenting with their live performances. Their new full-length record DROOL II features the band as two-piece of Chabra’s saturated, deep guitars and Leach’s hulking and cathartic drumming. From the loping opener “Canary” to the tender, orchestral art-rock climax of “Shoes”, the duo uses their limited sonic palette to create a dynamic collection of songs. Trading lead vocals, both members use delicate poetic imagery in contrast to their dissonant and contorted music, often dealing with leftist-skewed themes of introspection, authority, bigotry, and dehumanization. DROOL’s influences are as unique as their sound, taking inspiration from early aughts Providence noise rock, contemporary DEVOtional bands, and the “Jam Econo” ethos of The Minutemen. DROOL is as unique as they are powerful in both their composition and their live performance, constantly trying to undermine rock norms and go beyond conventions of what it means to be a band today.
DROOL is Hersh D Chabra and Ben Leach.