Time Spent Driving

Having released their revered "Passed and Presence" LP in 2015 after reforming in 2012, Time Spent Driving's been quietly whittling away on songs for the follow-up. Intending to finish a full-length, the uncertainty of the COVID crisis bottlenecked the plan. They decided to release half of the album as "Estrangers Vol. 1" temporarily in mid 2020 while finishing up the rest of the record. Having recently signed with Negative Progression Records, the Estrangers Full-Length Album is due out Summer 2023.

The 10 songs on the record manage to offer up a different side of the band, with what may be the most honest, succinct, and powerful set of songs they've ever released. From the short and abrasive opener "Trust No. 1", to the calmly-wound tension of "Not Just Ink", to the dark, brutal dissonance in "Wake Up and Smell the Daisies"—every turn rings with a sense of maturity, poise, and grace.

So how'd they get here? Long before "emo" was a dirty word associated with Hot Topic, painted faces, and skinny jeans, Time Spent Driving was playing their own brand of emotive indie rock. Formed in 1999, and spawned from their roots in the San Francisco Bay Area's punk scene, their sound has always boasted familiar elements of the time period. But they cut their own path, never quite fitting in with the droves of bands in the genre—something that's aged well in the test of time.

In 2000 they released a 6-song debut EP entitled "Walls Between Us", followed by their phenomenal full length "Just Enough Bright" in 2002, which was produced by J Robbins. Playing over 150 shows, the band toured both the US and Europe to the tune of a loyal following. Their music has been released and distributed on Sessions Records, Doghouse, Deep Elm, Rise Records, Lorelei Records. They've also been featured nationally on several MTV shows, as well as the Xbox video games "Amp'd Snowboarding," "Transworld Surf," and more.

After an untimely hiatus in mid-2003, the band briefly reconvened in 2005, recruiting Jesse Buglione of Lagwagon on bass, adding a fresh perspective to their evolving sound. They officially broke up in late 2005 after recording seven final tracks and releasing them in 2007 along with a collection rare, demo, and unreleased songs they dubbed "I'm Your Stab in the Back." Reforming with their three original members in early 2012, they started playing select shows while writing material for a brand new album to satiate their dedicated fan base and reach new listeners. Their fourth release, "Passed and Presence," was released in July of 2015 on Cardigan Records in tandem with an official video and live shows. A deluxe edition later followed with the addition of 2 unreleased songs from the same sessions, along with two acoustic versions of the album's tracks.