 Moores identifies in "Forced to Drive" the "quiet-LOUD-quiet" dynamic for which Deal's former band, the Pixies, are famous; Berger expresses this same duality by contrasting the song's "pop verses" with "the gloom of a twisty, malignant chorus". For Abbot, this four-chord chorus "approaches exuberance" in its mixture of catchy melody and grunge.
