Thursday 18 December 2014

The Vickers

Italian band The Vickers have recently released their airy new LP 'Ghosts'. It is seemingly kaleidoscopic but it has entangled other elements which really highlight them as one to watch.
The album opens with 'Shes lost', a dreamy, light song which is easy on the senses. Its appealing through its incandescent allure; high-pitched notes plucked from the heart and soothing lyrics which bolt icy shivers down your spine alerting you to the power their notes are holding. A different feeling is achieved in the second track 'I Don't Know What It Is' through a sort of hippie feel. You know when you just feel pure elation through music and it feels like it can't possibly be real, well this is it. The psychedelic tones are the main structure for the feeling but the voice, oh the voice. It becomes real and wraps its arms around you, holding you tightly. The slowing of the waves of melodies in the centre of the song is sort of like a breather, almost as if the band were expecting you to become detached from reality and they left some time for you to remember your place in life.

'Senseless Life' gives this exact image. You start to feel the senselessness of the band, not in the way they make music but it is more as if a detachment to reality. The band themselves have begun to fall into their own rabbit hole which they've created. 'It Keeps Going On and On' is slightly darker with the guitar sounding almost Western, each note plunging, taking the remaining instruments briefly with it. The vocals also have become tinted, the drums more thrashy and we see a somber side to the gang.

'All I Need' is a bit like Kasabian's Velociraptor. The song is the sound version of an optical illusion, repetitive melodies warping around you, vibrating your skin and making your hair stand on end. 'Hear Me Now' continues the maddening melodies yet the voice sounds completely different in this track. It sounds lighter and slightly electric, as though energy is running through it. Although it probably is,the band has demonstrated some serious ability and power, I wouldn't surprised if his voice did have its own electric current.

'Inside a Dream' opens with very dreamy vocals. The music goes hand in hand with it, the melodies seem as though they're not sure who they are or who to be. They want to be hard and outspoken yet they want to dreamy and luscious. The two factors create a twisted composition which you feel obliged to listen to. 'Walking On a Rope' is the keeper of polychromatic melodies, kaleidoscopic verses and just a tint of hallucination. Its an odd beauty this track holds but it is a very defined one.

'Total War' slows the whole album down with lethargic beats and melancholy vocals yet as the warped tune gently speeds up you are able to feel a sense of greatness about this track which gradually captures your breath and locks it away. This would have been a killer track to leave it but it seems the band have more juice to pump out in 'Ghosts'. It begins otherworldly with foreign noises taking the soundscape but the chugging beat again takes centre stage and a distorted song strolls along and takes your mind with it. It might not have been the best track to leave on when there were better available but it definitely does leave you with a good feeling.
Like the band on Facebook, follow their Twitter or check out their Bandcamp.
em, (@emiemzy)

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