Born in the heart of Middlesbrough 4 Mile Drive have been one of the bands in particular that have impressed us over the last year. Back in August 2007 Phil Pollard - lead guitarist in the band approached us at Doc Browns to enquire if we had any slots available for his new band. As we are always looking for new blood we agreed a date for them to play. This was only the second live gig the band had put on and we had no idea as to what they were going to be like. Were we in for a shock!

4 Mile Drive can best be described as a full blooded punk band. No imitations here they are everything you identify with when you think of 70's punk.

Fronted by Vik - the powerhouse - this band quite literally bursts onto the stage with a gusto that is sadly lacking in a lot of "punk" bands currently out there. They clearly love their music and put everything they have into their performance.
Doing a bit of background research on the band this is what they had to tell us;

4 Mile Drive started out in October '07 with Phil, Jon-Paul and Carl setting the foundations. After composing a few songs they decided it was time to find a frontman, but instead they came across Vik, their "frontwoman". Vik was no stranger to working with Phil and JP as they used to be in a typical "teen garage band" back in their school days.

All influenced by different aspects of music, they share a passion for punk rock. After writing many songs of different styles, the band have found their sound, which is more than teen angst. With melodic riffs and gritty distortion 4 Mile Drive is more than a stereotypical female fronted band. They are a well rounded full punk rock band.

One of the artists on Uncovered Tracks - Volume 1 which we put together to raise funds for Zoe's Place 4 Mile Drive contributed "Poison" to the compilation. Here are a couple of reviews by Rob Nichols;

December 5th 2008 IT started way back in September with 25 bands and this week was the grand final with three bands going head to head for a prize of £200 at Dr Browns on Wednesday.

Now for 4 Mile Drive, a band that draw some of their influences from posi-punk bands of the late ’70s.

Vik, a mighty atom vocalist with an incredibly powerful voice, a big but melodic bass sound and guitar lines that have everyone up out of their seats.

I closed my eyes and pictured Pauline Murray and Penetration or the Revillos, but that was me showing my age again. So much energy and great songs.

January 16th 2009 PASSING Dr Brown’s, the band on stage caught my eye through the window so I stepped inside and was captivated by an explosive show.

I soon recognised the melodic power punk tunes and incredible energy of the mighty atom singer of 4 MILE DRIVE as a couple of weeks before I had seen these 21st century punks narrowly pipped at the post in a battle of the bands.

As they finished their last song, the organiser Angie announced that 4 Mile Drive were being featured on a new local band compilation album called Uncovered Tracks. I snapped it up.

He goes on to say when reviewing the CD:

Man the lifeboats as 4 MILE DRIVE launch a torpedo - I’m thinking The Ruts, The Rezillos, Penetration.

To find out more about 4 Mile Drive please visit their MySpace Page.

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