Hiding in my big pile o’ reviews I wanted to do was this little number from Vendetta Red, the band’s first release since 2005. Already out, I’m hoping I’m in time to still convince a couple of you to give it a chance.
Billed as “alternative rock”, this label doesn’t come close to describing the eclectic styles you’ll find within. Punk-edged vocals, Beatles-esque rhythms, Nirvana-style distorted guitars… there’s so much going on and a great number of the songs are enjoyable and bouncy. This is a summer album that I’m just getting round to listening to as the sun finally makes an appearance.
Opener “Swim” lets you know just how big this band sound, throwing in some great riffs, pounding drums and swift vocal style changes. It flips from shouty to trippy with the flick of a switch, but both sides work well. “Wild and Dangerous” ramps up the summer buzz and is one of the best songs on the album. It’s just fun wrapped in guitars.
The band can do “laid back” as well, as demonstrated with “Encantado”. It harks back to the 70s more than anything on here and, for some reason, reminds me of Queen. Not the whole song, just little moments here and there, but there’s something. That punk / grunge crossover sound is to the fore in the noisy “Saw Something, Said Something”, angry vocals screamed over slightly lackadaisical strummed rhythm guitars.
“Deceiver” throws more into the mix again with another huge-sounding mélange along with a handful of straight up rock guitar solos. You know how I name-dropped Queen earlier? I’m thinking Muse with this one. Again, just listen and see if you agree with me.
We go acoustic (partly) with “The Unending War”, demonstrating another tool in the big box labelled “Vendetta Red”, and a damn fine stadium ballad it is as well. “No Way Out” wakes you up again with an abrasive two minutes of all out screaming and noise before we find a middle ground between the two with “Acquiesce”.
With closing track “The Circle” appropriately making you want to go all the way back to track one and listen again, what we have here is a surprisingly good rock album from a band I’d not heard from before. The sheer variety of influences present through all twelve tracks makes it feel at once familiar and simultaneously fresh. No new ground is broken as such, but the way these styles have been smashed together with wild, creative abandon is something your ears deserve to hear.
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