Vincent, Vincent & the Villains – Gospel Bombs

MOST GROUPS THESE days are only out to make a quick buck. They think that just because they have twenty friends on MySpace they’re on the verge of being the next big thing.

Commercial awareness has, of course, been part and parcel of underground rock for decades, but there’s something extra smelly about it nowadays. Their songs suck and they suck badly; there’s very little thought put into the song-writing process and little emphasis placed on the crispness of the finished product.

Vincent Vincent & The Villains, you’ll be pleased to know, don’t fall into this category. Their debut album, Gospel Bombs, has been brewing for a long time and you can most definitely tell. Their first single was released back in the fall of 2006.

Each track on the album is crafted with care and precision but, most importantly, the fundamentals are right. They haven’t skimped on the melody, lyrics or beats, and there’s something light-hearted about their sound that makes me want to skip.

Vincent Vincent & The Villains also remind us that there was pop before the explosion of the Mersey Beat in 1961. The group does old skool ‘rockabilly’ and it does it in a big way. They switch from a drunken Mexican mash-up (Beast) to a raw Skiffle number (Blue Boy) to a classic Wah-Do rock ‘n’ roll track (Sins of Love) and back to Skiffle (On My Own). They’re clever, witty, and they maintain the highest quality throughout.

Their latest single, Pretty Girl even manages to make Ska sound good again, while the vocal harmonies on Sweet Girlfriend make the Wombats’ attempt at something akin to music (check out A Guide to Love Loss and Desperation) look quite stupid.

Perhaps the biggest tragedy is that unlike their peers, Vincent Vincent & The Villains occupy a perilous position on the periphery of mainstream indie. Their sound, although polished and mature, hasn’t got the radio-edge that the Klaxons have.

Instead of filling a dance floor with subtly aggressive hedonistic rock their album is much more passive. It paints a picture of a world in which love is dangerous, girls are idolised and a bad night can be remedied by a quality joint. While variety is great for dedicated music fans, this could prove a difficulty for the group’s long-term success.

Now that ‘indie’ is in, the labels want to cash in, and those groups with the biggest tracks will be rewarded accordingly. That’s just one more reason to buy this album and help add colour to the blandness of 21st century rock ‘n’ roll.

Rating: 4/5

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