Reviewed for http://www.subba-cultcha.com/
Vera Lynch
Evil Cowboy Surfer Songs
(Unsigned)
sublimely melodic in a skewed asymmetric way
A handful of tangled symphonies drifting in almost from nowhere like slow-waltzing ghosts dragging their musical interpretations along on chains of diverse and sonic identities. Genre shuffling iconoclastic trick merchants Vera Lynch build remarkably listenable songs that veer one way just to body-swerve on a sixpence and head off in another direction entirely. There is the tripped out coolness of retro alt-rock and the meandering atmospherics of cowboy Americana peppered with touches of dark surf/garage rock and a washing of cinematic textures which, when combined in this way, enhance the mood effects - from perpetually gloomy to rich, punchier attacks. Opening song Evil Cowboy Surfer Song has a rockabilly/movie soundtrack edge with its shimmering guitar chime and jaunty lead vocal style that dips and soars its way around the music bolstering the entire track with a self assured sturdiness. The second track Fire is huskier in sound, more restrained in pace and it shines with a darker side yet there’s a chirpy compulsion to remain reasonably light and it’s keen sense of melody remains gloriously flawless.
With its slow-paced intro of sparse guitar and gently stirring drums Your Favourite Dragon evokes a heartfelt melancholy with singer Guy Harries delivering a truly brilliant crooning vocal melodrama that sits somewhere between Nick Cave and Scott Walker as the music slowly swells to embrace the raggedy grandiose atmosphere until everything spills over into frantic drums and wailing guitar. Final track Skin has a B52’s bounce and Cramps theatrical rockabilly pace with barked vocals and a slender joyousness that doesn’t really develop into anything more than being the least compromising and most forgettable of the four songs. Vera Lynch are sublimely melodic, in a skewed asymmetric way, and its that abandonment of the more palatable sugary rock tune of today that shall be the very thing to attract you to them. If this is going to be good enough for the hipsters then it it’s going to be good enough for you.
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