Alternative Rock
2001
As much fun as the metallic drone of 1995's Magnosheen was at points, Gwenmars' spectacularly surnamed frontman Mike Thrasher knew there was more to his band's sound than a low-rent photocopy of Smashing Pumpkins' 'Quiet'. Changes were already afoot on 1998's Gwen Mars EP, whose new track 'Battery' was an ebullient slice of scrappy garage rock. When Driving a Million came out in 2001, they'd left behind the Siamese Dream affectations entirely in favour of a sound that gracefully zigzags between fuzzed out rawk spittle and grown-up, pensive songwriting.
'Neon Tom', the only single off the record, showcases Thrasher's new vocal style that drops the Corgan-esque whine for a raspy, cigarette-suffocated baritone that's perfect for the song's oblique Space Oddity-referencing lyrics about the silence of the post-breakup period (probably). In an 1995 interview with Slug Mag, Thrasher mentions his love of Spiders from Mars alum Mick Ronson's guitar work, and that's evident on Neon Tom's grungy jangle and squealing solo as well as on the glammy rave-up of 'Strawberry Ice'.
Things get quieter but no less compelling on the string-laden 'She Hung the Moon' and the atmospheric closer 'The Race', where the reverbed vocals and acoustic strumming tie in nicely with the gentle twinkle of electric guitars. 'Radio Gun' dabbles in a shoegaze-y wall of guitars, while the pulsing electronic beats prefixing the thunderous guitar of 'Electro' can't hide Thrasher's voice sounding more than a little reminiscent of Stereophonics' Kelly Jones. 'Venus' is a speedy rocker that sounds like it crawled out of the scuzzy murk of the Gwen Mars EP to metamorphose into an MTV-ready pop hit. 'Hurry Up' seems to be the last remnant of their Smashing Pumpkins worship, reworking the densely layered riff of 'Today' into a romantic rocker that ended up being another missed opportunity for a single.
That seems to be the story of Driving a Million; despite the abundance of hooks, modern production and stately songwriting, there just didn't seem to be enough in the tank marketing-wise to place them alongside bands like Muse, Placebo, and Diorama-era Silverchair that were doing quite well with this kind of sound in the early 2000s. Of course, those bands all had loyal followings in the UK and Europe, while Gwenmars were stuck on the other side of the world in Los Angeles where the rock landscape didn't seem to have anywhere near the same appetite for what they were serving up. Despite the occasional publicity breakthrough ('The Race' would be featured on an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) , Driving a Million would turn out to be their last record, with the band breaking up not long after.
