VIB GYOR are fully in their pomp with these four soaring tracks. Melody, a pure voice, a great stream of guitar bass, synth, and drums blast outwards on the trajectory abandoned by RADIOHEAD after OK Computer.
The RADIOHEAD influence burns as strong as it ever did. But it doesn’t crush the spirit, the originality or the individuality of what VIB GYOR do. Rather than flap weakly in the general direction of cultural heroes, it’s as if VIB GYOR had decided to pick it up where it had been left and do something even more exciting and even more rock and roll … something that will tear live audiences apart and rip the emotional wall paper of the venues we play in.” A live recording of “Stalker” shows just how good they can be on stage. Astonishingly proficient. That’s how good.
The Secret farts a bar or two of daft trumpet and guffaws – then leaps headfirst into some lacerating energy and multilayered hugeness. Dave Fendick’s instantly recognisable voice wheels above jabbering guitar and volcanic gouts of breathtaking sound. Damn good, Sir.
“Scanners” opens out a little, trembling and lightening the touch with an acoustic guitar and some ethereal choir noises. It’s a sweet song with a bit of muscle and plenty of decorative charm. It says here “nearly five minutes”, but it sweeps by. “The world will swallow you whole” he croons, and it all goes spacey for a while. There are some very deft guitar lines. Very nice: complex and attractive with it.
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“Ultimatum” has a soft touch and a romantic sway. It’s a confiding tune and Dave Fendick’s voice is at its gentlest. You might mention Chris Martin but there’s a depth and variation to Fendick’s voice that goes way beyond the trademark catch and sob.
A secret track (of course) gives us some gorgeous piano with a guitar played as if it were an Italian mandolin on a romantic evening on some dark swirling waterway.
It’s an odd thing. I look into my last.fm listings and I see just how popular this kind of sound is when people are tucked up with their iTunes. It might not be super-fashionable, but a lot more people would be buying it if they knew it was there, and the musical word would, on balance be a much better place.
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