Appealing, ragged rockers in the mode of a twangier Replacements.

- Metropulse, Knoxville, TN, July 2011

Power-pop isn’t solely the purview of city slickers in skinny ties. The members of Gleasons Drift are more beard-and-flannel types, so it’s fitting that on their third album they deliver big riffs and bigger melodies with a backwoods twang befitting their native Pottsville, Pa. At their catchiest the songs recall ’70s-era NRBQ. When frontman Bill Whalen really gets going, singing about marital upheavals or excessive drinking with folksy humor and hints of sadness, he proves as potent a songwriter as the similarly oriented Mike Cooley of the Drive-By Truckers. This hayride of an album is an easy sell: Come for the hooks, stay for the jokes, savor the stories.

- M Magazine, Music and Musicians, 2011

Gleasons Drift is a band all about keeping the spirit of rock’n’roll alive, which is done artfully on the new album Blythe Township Mellencamp.  It’s rock/americana with hints of country; a convergence of light-hearted barroom music with a strong focus on harmony and catchy hooks.

Their clever lyrics are strung together over eleven diverse tracks, bouncing between southern blues, pop, punk and garage rock, bringing a new flavor into each song.

They get honkey-tonk on “Crowes” before displaying their Meat Puppets influence with a sped-up tempo on “It Ain’t Easy Being Me.”

The diverse mix of influences throughout the album keeps it interesting, letting the listener breathe it all in without being suffocated by one musical style. It’s fresh and on-the-move, slowing down and picking up like a kid with ADD. But it has a consistency and a shape to it that is well structured and organized.

Their dark sense of humor exhibited on “Hey Frank” juxtaposes disease and death with an upbeat, happy, polka-influenced melody. It’s nice to hear a solid, honest band whose personality is audible and whose hard work and wide musical appreciation is apparent on every track.

- Denver Collins Buzzbin Magazine, Ohio, 2010

Many listeners may not know Gleasons Drift from the Gleason Score, but even the most casual of fans may feel like they’ve heard this band before. In smoky country music watering holes, on vintage CMT, buried deep within compilations of music inspired by the Band and in the sounds of countless hillbilly bumpkins trying to modernize Hank Sr., the Pennsylvania-based quartet’s third LP Blythe Township Mellencamp is immediately recognizable, even to the uninitiated.  One can’t argue that Gleasons Drift is dually predictable and fun, catchy and harmless.

Hints of everything from the Meat Puppets (“Crowes”) and Tom Petty (“Well Known Drag”) to Band of Horses (“Omni”) and polka (“Hey Frank”) peek through, but Blythe Township Mellencamp is a country music record at heart, overflowing with the genre’s overly repeated lamentations. Twangy guitar riffs and equally twangy vocals are paired alongside tongue-in-cheek diatribes about pain-in-the-ass women (“The Way You Look (At Me)”), whiskey-shooting booze hounds banished from the bedroom (“Couch”) and good old country boys steeped in Jesus, family and small town tradition (“Billie’s Hill”). It’s been done before, yes, but to the band’s credit, tracks like “The Ballad of Captain A” and “It Ain’t Easy Being Me” reflect a Replacements-like enthusiasm sometimes lacking in alt-country. Other songs like “Luna” and garage-surf-pop closer “Evelyn” sound like the products of an entirely different band, revealing a group capable of abandoning their country music leanings to explore various genres rather seamlessly.

Lyrically, few records in 2010 have been more straightforward (“It’s not the way you cook/ It’s the way you cook for me/ It’s not the way you smile/ It’s the way you smile at me/ I tell you something/ I ain’t done nothing/ It’s you, ’cause it sure the hell ain’t me”). Such a lack of lyrical ambiguity may get weary by record’s end, though touches of whimsical or dark humor (“{You say I have a problem/ And I say, ‘Hell everybody’s got ‘em’/ It’s just that mine is married to me/ She’s so pretty but she ain’t so kind/ I’ll trade you if you’ll take mine/ Aw hell, you can have her for free”}) may keep listeners like me from drifting from Gleasons Drift in favor of the band’s oft-imitated influences.

The earmarks that Hank Williams, John Fogerty, Robbie Robertson and even the Rolling Stones (plenty of Keith Richards’ guitar power and Jagger’s swagger are evident) left on rock, country and Americana can be heard throughout. A record that’s rollickingly fun.

- Spectrum Culture, 2010

You guys are the best damn rock and roll band to play the Stage on Herr! ( Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center)

- Thom Bissey, Talent Buyer HMAC, 2010

The sophomore effort from Gleasons Drift, “Nickel Rocket,” is a project of garage band rock music sporting Replacements-like  turn on a dime riffs, Stonesy/ Mike Campbell (Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers) vintage guitar tones and Mick and Keef vocal harmonies. But where some bands may emulate their heroes almost to the point of plagiarism, Gleasons Drift takes these influences and combine them with their own musical sensibilities to make a sound that is at once familiar and yet uniquely it’s own. On “Nickel Rocket” the band really comes into it’s own with strong instrumental play and tightly focused song arrangements. The rhythm section of Jason Fedele and Greg Lowe turn in outstanding performances over the difficult and quirky riffs and rhythms and particular credit goes to Lowe whose melodic bass fills, while continuing to support the bottom end, at times remind of John Entwistle’s important role in The Who. Bill Whalen’s songwriting has matured (“matured” in a VERY good way) and his guitar playing and vocals can handle anything from an “Exile On Main Street”/Tom Petty like ballad to Replacements/near all out punk rock. Credit to Bret Alexander, once again, for contributing a big, full, polished sound without sacrificing the band’s raw, garage style. This is a fine effort worthy of anyone’s CD collection so give “Nickel Rocket” a spin. It’s money well spent.

- Pennsylvania Musician, 2008

What is that smell? That is fresh air. Or maybe it is fresh lager. Same difference. I was elated when I popped in Pottsville’s own Gleasons Drift’s “Nickel Rocket” and heard some of the other things I like in life — twangy guitars, not-so-serious or self-important lyrics, and a general Rolling Stones loose and bluesy country rock vibe. Certainly heard a little Meat Puppets in the track “Vol/Cano.” I still have that song stuck in my head. Maybe a little Wilco from their “A.M.” days for good measure. The whole album has a live and loose, tossed-off-in-an-afternoon feel to it. It probably wasn’t but they succeed in giving the listener the feeling of being in the room with them as they knock out the tunes. Speaking of that, the production is crystal clear.  Singer/guitarist Bill Whalen, who is also the main songwriter, has a warm every-man voice. Down to Earth and infinitely likable, Gleasons Drift are worth your time. Crack a cold one open and enjoy. Toss me one, too.

– Shinbone Magazine, July 2008

On Nickel Rocket, rawk ‘n’ rollers Gleasons Drift offer nods to The Band, Creedence and The Replacements, crafting a classic barroom boogie that still manages to surprise.

– Pittsburgh City Paper, 2008

This Pennsylvania four-piece are a terrific bar band rocking out originals. Gleasons Drift has that classic American local rock band feel and for those in their vicinity it is likely refreshing for such a band to rock their local haunt.

– Exoduster, January 2008

Playing an eloquent barroomstyle rock, Gleasons Drift are about simple, verse and chorus tracks driven by guitars and drums. The familiar feeling tracks are supported by a capable rhythm section that has a fondness for stops, and they like leads that follow the vocal lines. It’s straight-up, blues-derived rock, and it’s pretty easy to get along with. There’s also some unconscious influence at work here, such as The Who-esque intro and break of “Beau Riuage (At The),” and the “U.S. Blues”- meets Rolling Stones “Thank You Ronnie.” The similarities could slip by in more lavish settings, but the stripped down rock of Nickel Rocket is so bare they hit like a brick. The unassuming nature of Gleason’s Drift, though, makes such comparisons rather highhanded.

– The Aquarian,  November 2007

Gleasons Drift are an American band who’ve chucked REM, Tom Petty and a few other classic bands of that ilk into a pot, stirred it around a bit and served it up as “Nickel Rocket”. To vary the fare a bit there’s a few hints of power pop, a few catchy hooks and some nice guitar work, notably on ”Beau Rivage” and album standout “Bitter Year”. Good solid fare.

– Americana-UK, 2007

“Rock ‘n’ roll’s everyman spirit is alive and well in this no-frills quartet from rural Pennsylvania. Gleasons Drift believe in the three Bs: Bob Seger, Budweiser and the eternal Buzz. As a result, Beaver has a slightly boozified view of the world that tilts everything it sees — love, money, ‘73 Chevys — slightly to left of center. Though Gleasons Drift aren’t as fantastically wasted as The Replacements or Guided by Voices, honest blue-collar laments like “Personally (Don’t Take It)” and “Been a Drag” will appeal to fans of those groups, so honest are they in their depiction of four regular dudes drinking six-packs and playing songs in each other’s basements. You can practically see Westerberg and Pollard buzzed out in the Snake Pit, downing Old Style tall boys and flipping bingos, listening to the shambolic furor of “Black Cloud Shadow” or “Regina”. A pleasantly straightforward outfit in an era of ironic poseurs and new-wave wannabes, Gleasons Drift make no bones about being nobodies — but in a rare twist of fate, Beaver’s slovenly pop lurch could soon make them a gaggle of somebodies.”

– Smother, 2006

This band was one of my favorites on the recent compilation from this same label, so it’s good to hear that there’s more where that came from. I was gonna call it a cross between early ’70s Rolling Stones and something else, but it really just sounds like classic Stones! In fact, the record even sounds a little dated the way it’s produced, with a minimum of distortion on the guitars and a great, but still not quite hi-fi sound. This album is full of some catchy, solid rock tunes.

– indiepages.com, September 2005

“…highlights come from Gleasons Drift ’20,000 Leagues Below Dayton’…”

– exoduster.com,  May 2005

“Stand-outs include the catchy indie-rock tunes by Gleasons Drift…”

– indiepages.com,  May 2005

“…notables include Gleasons Drift …”

– smother.net,  June 2005