The members of Ex-Vöid have certainly done their time in the indie trenches, with stints in Joanna Gruesome, Garden Centre, Evans The Death and Thee MVPs, amongst others.
In fact, singer Owen Williams is doing quite well with the latest Tubs album, but where that tends to take as its starting point the classic British indie sound of yore, to my mind, Ex-Vöid looks more across the pond, aligning itself with the kind of flurrying ’90s indie purveyed by the likes of Velocity Girl and Tsunami, but containing the essential melancholy that comes with a British perspective.
A nice blur of guitar distortion opens the album and a cheerful layer of fuzz introduces the voices. Owen’s voice is more reserved, lurking gently in the background, leaving the more emotive elements to Lan McArdle. The combination works well amid the chiming joy and scruffy rhythmic momentum, and the melancholy is offset by the wash of ’90s guitar. In places the guitars are kind of gruff and muscular with some tasty chord progressions, while the waves of distortion are underpinned by melodic basslines.
They have a good line in heartbreak: “In my heart I know it’s the end”; and they can also slow things down a little, heading into more countrified territory with a lovely plucked banjo on “Nightmare”. It sits well with the guitar surge and there is even a pastoral organ backing that is reminiscent of the late lamented Martin Duffy. For me, I like their intersection between the noisy, Stateside guitar pop and our more heartworn British form and also their understanding of the quiet / loud dynamic which works particularly well on “Sara”; they gently make the point, then force it home with a bit of a blast. There is something rather addictive about the melody on “Strange Insinuation” and the way the bass rumbles, and the drums race to a crescendo is pretty impressive. Their hearts are put through the wringer through on this album. “Lonely Girls” is repeated like a melancholic mantra, while the worn and gentle voice of Owen talks about “All those feelings down the drain” on “Down The Drain”, but is the final track “Outline” where everything is stripped right down to voice and country-ish guitar with some lovely harmonies. Again, they make the point; then the band surges in to finally remind the listener of the power at hand.This is a lovely set of songs rendered with great charm with strong rhythms and sweet melodies. In Love Again looks back a little, but moves things forward and that can only be a good thing.
-Mr Olivetti-
