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THE VAGABAND SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES
Pavlis
Playing guitars, pedal-steel, brass, woodwind, strings, piano, drums and bass, Norfolk nine- piece roots rockers Te Vagaband take country, folk, Celtic, jazz, blues, show tunes, classic rock and more to create a sound comfortably familiar yet uniquely their own. As cracking as they are live, as good as their previous LPs are, this third album is a surprise in its brilliance.
Te title track and Bright Are Te Stars hint at Midlake’s Van Occupanther and Drive-By Truckers. One For Te Road has the feel of Skynyrd jamming with Muswell Hillbillies Kinks. Tere’ll Only Be One Elvis references Costello rather than Presley but swaggers like Exile-era Stones. Tere’s an Appalachian stomp to Not My Day To Die and a touch of Steve Earle to Black Eyed Sally. Trough Te Back Doors channels Lennon and Cohen and Spiritual Man is NOLA Vaudeville. It is nigh on impossible to pick standouts but it is the two epics - An Eye For An Eye (featuring Morganway’s Yve Mary Barwood) and Zoetrope - that I’d go for.
Te PR blurb describes this as “Americana meets Te White Album”. I dunno about that but, if there is any justice, in years to come, this will be seen as Te Vagaband’s breakthrough masterpiece.
THE BREEDERS ALL NERVE
Pavlis
Formed in 1989 by Kim Deal of Te Pixies and Trowing Muses’ Tanya Donnelly, Te Breeders’ history has been marked by the highs of commercial success with the Last Splash LP and Cannonball singles and the lows of line-up changes and drug busts. All Nerve is Te Breeders’ fifth studio album and the first in a decade. It sees Deal reunited with the classic Last Splash line-up of lead guitarist sister Kelley, bassist Josephine Wiggs and drummer Jim Macpherson.
Tis has a classic
alt.rock feel that sounds like, well, Te Breeders and will be welcomed by those that are already fans. For the unfamiliar, it treads a similar path to the likes of Mercury Rev or Pavement, with hints of Velvet Underground and Lou Reed. Tis isn’t an instant classic but repeated listens are well rewarded. Of the eleven tracks, it is only the ponderous Dawn: Making An Effort that hasn’t won me over. Te remaining tracks are all decent, with opener Nervous Mary, the distinctly snarky Wait In Te Car and the string-enhanced Howl At Te Summit bordering on excellent.
When all is said and done, this doesn’t push the boundaries but it is a good – at times great – LP from
alt.rock elder stateswomen (and man) and that is strangely comforting.
CABBAGE NIHILISTIC GLAMOUR SHOTS
Callum
Te opener to ‘Nihilistic Glamour Shots’ – ‘Preach to the Coverted’ channels Fat White excellently, with chanting vocals which reek of derangement. Te whole song is largely a build- up with variations on “Preach to the Coverted” being shouted to spinning guitar and snappy snares. Te best track is ‘Arms of Pleonexia’, it includes an infectious chorus chant and crunchy, full-to-the-brim with attitude guitar. It includes the best aspects that Cabbage bring to the table – some anthemic and melodically interesting vocal lines while also maintaining that punk core.
‘Disinfect Us’ is the most standout album track with rippling open reverb-heavy chords, which are a treat to the ear when combined with a bit of tremolo. Tis track also has the most musicality to their shouting. Te looming drums and menacing guitar work very well with the chanting – this results in maintaining a sort of slow, threatening swagger.
Te album is much more refined and well rounded – more so than their EP compilation – ‘Young, Dumb and Full Of… Cabbage’. It has a solid structure of tracks which are well balanced and while the mix gets a bit lost on the penultimate two songs, ‘Subhuman 2-0’ really ties everything up neatly and is quite satisfying.
28 / APR-MAY 2018 /
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