Vampire Hands - Cuz It's A Beach Funeral (EP)
ARTIST.....: Vampire Hands
TITLE......: Cuz It's A Beach Funeral (EP)
LABEL......: Peppermint Coffins
URL........: www.myspace.com/vampirehands
RIP DATE...: Jul-07-2007
STORE DATE.: May-00-2007
GENRE......: Indie
QUALITY....: VBR / 44.1Hz / Joint-Stereo
SIZE.......: 16,9 MB
Track Listing:
01 - Statuette 02:16
02 - Paradise Knife Fights 01:55
03 - Telephone (Interlude) 00:50
04 - We Widows 02:30
05 - Christ/Scientist 01:17
06 - Desert Dreams 04:06
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12:54 min
Release Notes:
Like a 1950s Woodie with a coffin strapped to the top, Vampire
Hands' six-song EP comes rolling into summer with a dark and
eclectic mix of noise and pop. Singer Colin Johnson and guitarist
Chris Rose share songwriting duties; the former writes loopy,
effects-laden noise pieces, while the latter favors guitar-based,
distorted pop-rock with a seedy underbelly.
Cuz It's a Beach Funeral's lead-off track, "Statuette," sounds
like a heartbeat-propelled sound piece from a David Lynch film,
with backward-tracked moans and piercing shards of noise that
build into a sinister chant of "You will splash in appropriate
black." Juxtaposed with this creepiness is "Paradise Knife Fight,"
a jaunty, sunny, lil' ditty that's all Buddy Holly guitar (to my
ears, the melody line sounds a bit like George Michael's "Faith" -
and I mean that as a compliment) and handclaps (yes!). I can't
wait to hear it on the radio, driving with the windows down and
the system up.
Then it's back into the well, with a short, moody piece that
suggests being alone aboard a runaway train on a moonless night in
the dead of winter. Funeral dirge "We Widows" is a lamentful
waltz, all chiming guitars and lilting vocal harmonies. "And on
and on/We dance slow" the voices croon, and just when you're ready
to rest your head on the pillow of sound and pull up the covers,
you're pulled effortlessly into another world. Segueing
seamlessly, "Christ, Scientist" sounds as if Of Montreal and Can
had a baby, with high, pretty, layered vocals floating over a
skittery drum track and a loop of what might be best described as
an eraser rubbing back and forth on a piece of paper. Rounding out
the set is "Desert Dreams," a slow burner with clanging,
clattering percussion reminiscent of the cacophonous noise of
"Joy" off of P.J. Harvey's Is This Desire? And it does indeed come
off as a desert dream, perhaps an alternate soundtrack to
Westworld, the futuristic Western with Yul Brynner as an evil
cowboy, or something to play as you watch Tom Petty's "You Got
Lucky" video with the sound off.
When I get a chance to talk with the band, I ask about the
inspiration for their lyrics. "Usually it's something visual, and
then fitting words together to aesthetically please," replies
Johnson, before recanting with "total bullshit." His explanation
showcases the duality of the Vampire Hands experience: foreboding,
pervasive menace on one end of the spectrum, and a playful,
don't-give-a-shit spirit on the other. While they make dark and
disturbing music, they don't seem to take much of anything
seriously.
"I just get high and fuck with other people's songs," says drummer
Alex Rose when asked about the division of songwriting labor. When
singer Chris Bierden complains that his "genius has been
undermined on every album," it's not clear if he's been taking
truth serum, or if he's just drunk.
Cuz It's a Beach Funeral doesn't sound like the band's proclaimed
influences - Eno, Krautrock, the Beatles, Cows drummer Freddy
Votel - though traces can be found on the fringes. To say that
they resemble anyone else in particular would be false; they
simply sound like the inimitable Vampire Hands. More than anything
else, the record feels like night swimming in Crystal Lake,
telling yourself that Jason can't get you as long as you stay in
the still, black water. (www.citypages.com)