The debut album from Sydney's
Van She has finally hit the shelves. This does feel a little strange to say as they have been playing some pretty solid gigs for quite a while and brought out a well
received EP in 2005. I think it feels even stranger because
Modular popped out the first single of the album
Cat and The Eye
in late 2007, and then the second one
Strangers earlier this year. All of this means that although there has been a steady build up to the release of
V three or four of the tracks are already pretty familiar to us before we even hear the album.
Meh, this is not
unusual for a debut album and I say we have eight other tracks to get excited about.
V has a really nice laid back vibe to it, and although cliche it may be-it really is the perfect Summer afternoon CD. The tracks we've already heard sit
nicely amongst the fresh stuff, though I must say that the bands bread and butter
Kelly feels a little like its lost its magic since the more raw demo days with a different creepy
electro intro. Of the new tracks
Memory Man provides a slowly building introduction with the almost haunting vocals of
Nicky Routledge and is
definitely a stand out.
So High is very very catchy but for some reason I always think of
Getting Better All the Time whenever I hear it. The band has always been said to have a strong 80s vibe and this has remained. As has an almost perfect blend of electronic, pop and rock sounds which changes both within each track and across the whole album.
In this day and age, you would think that
record labels would be doing everything they can to encourage physical CD sales and deter people away from the horrible illegal download. I reckon that a great deal of this would be about making the album art appealing and interesting which would encourage the consumer to want to hold it their hands, put it in their collection and show their grandchildren in 20 years.
V makes me want to do none of these, and in fact I almost didn't buy it when I saw a picture that belongs on a 12 year
olds Myspace gracing the front cover. I understand that this V licking pose has become a sort of unofficial motto for the band, but it represents a much
cheezier and immature sound than the sophisticated and relaxed tracks on the album. Obviously this says
a lot about the target market of their listeners, but I do think
Van She are selling
themselves far too short.
Van She-ChangesBuy V from Modular
Although for some reason I get a bit if flak about it, I love Van She and sorta raved about their 2008 debut release V. I was in Brisbane over the weekend and was hoping to catch the boys play on their Ze Remixes tour. Basically, they have done what Duran Duran, Soulwax and Bloc Party have done before them and remixed their album (almost) in its in entirety. To be honest, this would be far from a challenge as the four piece as they spend a good deal of their time working the club scene as Van She Tech, and it is this dirty techno sound that appears on most of the tracks. However, they aint just a one trick pony as they have also thrown in a pretty sweet acoustic version of Virgin Suicide and a total newy Techno Music.
