The album has recently been picked up this week as the featured album on Triple J with astounding reviews. The long haired indie rockers from Wollongong who have been a band since 2013 have released their awaited debut and the 12 track record doesn’t disappoint.
After three EP releases – The VANNS’ (2013), Scattered By Sundown (2015), and Shake The Hand That Picks The Fight (2017) the band have been excited about their album’s October release with lead guitarist Cam Little stating, “We’ve just been wanting to put this album out for a long time now.”
According to Music Feeds, the album release has also coincided with their new deal with Paradigm Talent Agency which backs global artists such as the The Vaccines, The 1975, Alex Lahey and Billie Eilish. So expect these young Aussie rockers to blow up worldwide any time soon.
At first glance, listeners should not overlook the album’s catchy tunes for its more serious subject matter. Centered around broken love and past relationships, Little joked, “the album could have been titled Break-ups And Guitar Solos.”
The songwriting technique used throughout the album makes for beautiful crafted lyrics and a highly stylised performance quality. Little is right about the insertion of the guitars being dominant throughout the record but this insertion helps the lyrical wordplay become the backbone that drives the album. Each guitar section contains a plethora of juicy licks which keeps the listener in bewilderment. Listed below are songs in the album that will make you beg the band for more:
Mother
‘Mother’ is a guitar heavy enriching track and immediately sets the emotional tone of the overall album. The song was recorded at Melbourne’s Head Gap Studio with composer/producer Oscar Dawson (Holy Holy). The instrumentals pair strongly with the captivating lyricism and sets the benchmark on how good these gentlemen are at their craft.
According to Triple J, the collaboration with Dawson pushed the band to new creative heights. Vocalist Jimmy Vann recalls:
“Working with Oscar was like having an older brother in the band, a fifth member who related so well with us lads, the songs and how we wanted to record them.”
Deranged
Following off ‘Mother’, ‘Deranged’ is a fast paced song that really kicks off the album into hyper drive. Jimmy Vann lays down quite the emotive groundwork throughout the song and it pushes out Andrew Banovich’s drum beat. The extreme close up of those Gibson guitars in the music video highlights the vocal range in Jimmy’s singing. Together, the music soars high and cascades nicely during song’s bridge section. This then builds up the song’s climax which has Jimmy express a powerful emotive reflection of the chorus’ lyric, “and it don’t get easier living alone.”
Thieves
‘Thieves’ feels like an evocative montage of different emotional images flashing in front of your eyes all at once. The chorus, especially in the last moments of the song, places the emotional intensity in the singer’s voice. There is an empty feeling of brevity in the rhyming lyricism, ‘nothing is real, everything’s fake’ and ‘I wanna feel the moment I wake’.
Jimmy told Music Feeds: “It’s a song about wanting a life that others possess and failing to realise that not everybody’s existence is as amazing as it seems at first glance. It also deals with the envy and sadness of seeing somebody you love move on with somebody else somewhat easily.”
How Was I Suppose To Know
The poetical wordplay in ‘How was I suppose to know’ really captures the situation of a mental breakdown of a past relationship gone in disarray. According to Cam Little, the song is “confined, caught up in the piss-up that’s your life”, which I feel sums up the whole message of the song. It’s about a deep frustration caused by an amalgam of envy, anger, sadness, and still being mentally and romantically stuck in the past.’’
Chaka Fan
‘Chaka Fan’ being the second last song on the album really sets up the album’s conclusion about relationship breakups. The song compels you to listen to the record all over again. In regards to the song’s subjectivity, Cam Little recalls:
“Thematically, this song is rooted in delusion. It’s about the worst part of a break up where, despite the evidence, you’re trying so hard to convince yourself that somebody is still right for you that you may actually catch glimpses where you believe yourself. There is an incoherence in the lyrics that’s intentional, to kind of map the wayward mental-state of the character. For example, the whole second verse is about being a big fan of Chaka Khan. Anything becomes a good distraction when you have something unpleasant you’re trying not to think about.”
In a live studio rendition of the song you can see how incredibly the band showcase an infectious musical landscape and how well their chemistry as band sparks in different directions.
The VANNS are currently on their national tour and tickets are selling fast.
You can catch them on their national tour on the dates listed below:
9th November: Melton, Djerriwarrh Festival
14th November: Adelaide, Lion Arts Factory, All Ages
15th November: Fremantle, Mojo’s, All Ages
16th November: Perth, The Sewing Room, 18+
7th December: Sydney, The Metro Theatre, All Ages
28th December: Central Coast, Lost Paradise
For ticket info click here.
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