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Its Pronounced Vi
It's been a bad day. For reasons I shan't
go into, things have just gone astray. Suffice to say it amounts
to one of those days that, even as its happening, in all its
poetic absurdity, you know you'll be telling and retelling
this tale in anecdotal form for years to come, whilst simultaneously
wishing it could be that memory already. "One day we shall
look back at this day and we will laugh…"
Stop right there. It's five in the morning! How
did that happen? So it was in fact yesterday that was the
shocker. If I could only shake off this restless insomnia
which, rather than keeping me wide awake seems only to make
me too alert to sleep, while at the same time being too tired
to get up.
So, surrounded by the scattered chaos of
the previous days unnamed fiasco, I select a bean-bag at random,
don my headphones, straw hat and goggles, with the intention
of giving 'Eustacia Vye' a shot at blasting these cobwebs
away. It's my only hope.
My finger hovers over the 'Play' button
on my antiquated CD machine, and I figure as long as they
have managed to capture a scintilla of their collective live
energy then the Shepherd is as good as in the pie. I've seen
these guys in a live capacity several times, and know them
(As no doubt will many of you.) to be competent musicians
with energy, style and a penchant for the 'all out' performance.
Which is my key point here.
You cannot fake this sort of energy and
performance on a recording. You can fake just about anything
else. But energy isn't a sound or a shape. It's you and me.
It's possible to all but talk your vocals into an Auto-tune,
although it will sound a little strangulated when the manipulated
results are spewed out. Or if you really want to have some
fun, you can play all the separate drums on separate tracks,
and with the aid of Pro Tools or some such instrument of S8N,
you can bash them together later. If you wanted to that is.
But I'll be buggered if I've seen a whirly-gig that can inject
soul and life into lyrics the way a tortured songwriter can.
Having said this, there will no doubt come
a time when we can do all that and more. You could Tom Waits
or James Maynard Keenan your vocals at the touch of a button.
And when that day comes folks.
I'm off.
We should all make the best of the real
thing while it lasts. It could all end tomorrow. So, "If ever
there has been a sense of urgency…it is now"
The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost
In order to make sense of this EP I'm going
to start with the end, and describe my first feelings post
last track fade out.
To be honest, I was disappointed. Not with
the material you understand, but rather the lack of it. There
is a part of my brain that says EP's have four tracks and
I can't switch it off. You see with four
songs you can arrange them to take the listener on a short
trip. But three is like taking them over an unfinished bridge.
But then I got it.
As all this was creaking about inside my
brain, I found myself reaching for the play button. It was
instinctive. Like always having to have one more piece of
toast.
So with 'The Artist and The thief' filling
the headphones and lapping at my ears, I sank back into bean-bag
No.2, pausing only to inflate the volume by a significant
degree, whilst preparing my mind for the second coming of
Vyes' Holy Trinity.
Revelations
'The Artist And The Lover' sneaks
up on you like a Ninja assassin and then plants you a smacker
square on the lips, bringing a smile to your face within seconds
of it kicking into gear. It is a colourful and weighty number
with more groove than a box of LP's. As an opening track you
could do little better. It's punchy, yet in no way simplistic
and neither bores nor patronizes you. Rather, it acts as a
creeping barrage, clearing a path for the Infantry, in the
form of 'You Don't Dance Anymore", to take up positions
inside your Cerebral Cortex and dig in. By the time 'You
Don't Dance Anymore' is into its stride you begin to realize
how juxtaposed it is with its predecessor. A sudden change
of pace in an album can be hard to recover from, and you start
to wonder where track three will take us. Forwards or back?
But Ladies and Gentlemen, there is no such thing as forwards
and you can never go back, and these guys are well aware of
this. You see, EV have enough of a signature to their sound
that no matter how big the ups, or how high the lows you are
always safe in the knowledge that your still on the same ride.
There is a real sense that, however few
there may be, the tracks are ordered this way for a reason.
Songs can take people on a journey to anywhere, but if your
not careful, you can end up sending them by National Express.
I see this EP as a Setzner light aircraft, it's a distillation
of all the essentials required for a comfortable flight, with
none of the fancy gadgetry to distract from the basic wonder
of a trip on the wing.
Track three (When Words Collide)
is the best in my opinion, and seems most likely to stand
the test of repeated listening. It has more depth and melodic
charm than its predecessors, and holds back something new
for you to enjoy at each sitting.
They used to say that tragedies came in
threes, but that is not the case here
The Chapel And The Rest…
To round up then, there are two things
that have conspired to make this EP what it is. The audible
passion and talent of the combined musicianship within the
band, from Harrys' soulful, acrobatic yet well restrained
vocal ability to the reinforced steel rhythm section that
is Alex and Phil. Which all combine with the melodic meanderings
of Mr. Newel to justify this finely tweaked and thoughtfully
mixed trio of songs.
As Robert Wyatt, Motorhead, and The Wildhearts
before them, EV have chosen the hallowed walls of Chapel Studios
within which to capture their sound, and a better place within
local reach you couldn't hope to find. These are shiny tracks
indeed.
My only concern is that shiny may sometimes blind the listener
as regards songs weaknesses. However, I've had all three of
these tracks on loop as I've scribbled this, and they seem
to weather the scrutiny well. Good songs should be like good
art, you should hear something new in them at each listen.
With the thought these guys have put into
every facet of this mini release, I'd be very interested to
hear an LP selection. They seem to have a core understanding
of their medium as a whole, the simplistic packaging and wonderfully
enigmatic artwork being as well crafted as the songs they
contain.
I have no idea how much they are charging for all this, but
if you find yourselves at one of their gigs, skip the last
round and treat yourself.
Until next time folks…
G.
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