Wow! Where to begin to describe a) The Vincent(s) and b) ‘Throne Song’?
The words ‘dark’, ‘deep’, ‘morose’, ‘depressing’ even, all come quickly to mind but sometimes I think you need to see the whole picture. If you just listen to ‘Throne Song’, and are my age (30 and then some) your mind automatically goes back to post-Punk art rock like Joy Division, Bauhaus, Teardrop Explodes (still the best band name ever), Echo & The Bunnymen, Jesus & Mary Chain and all the bleak, black and white photographs of unsmiling bands that were oh-so-vogue back in those days. But, all these bands in turn took their inspiration from The Doors and The Doors, for all Jim Morrison’s tortured artist poetry and oedipal complexes, were theatre more than anything. The Doors also had a sense of humour and I think The Vincent(s) have that too – in a very self-effacing style. One read of their nearly incomprehensible Facebook profile confirms that they don’t take themselves too seriously. It’s clever because it makes the prospect of listening to them that little bit less daunting.
OK, for some people The Vincent(s) simply won’t be there thing and no amount of self-mockery will change that. Me? Well, I’ve admitted before my love of all things dark, moody and melancholy and I am a huge fan of The Doors. The vocal style in ‘Throne Song’ is pure Jim Morrison with that heady mixture of booming baritone and other-wordly screaming, never afraid to keep the melody dirge-like instead of more accessible (think ‘Five to One’). The music on ‘Throne Song’ is pure 80’s Art Rock with sparse, empty production at times as the bass line meanders it way like a snake across a floor, to a backdrop of guitar feedback and primitive ‘mini-moog’ level keyboards. I found it really captivating. If the idea of a single is to make the listener want to listen to more of a band, then ‘Throne Song’ certainly does the trick. I just let the Soundcloud player run through the rest of their uploaded material.
Just back from completing a fairly extensive tour of Ireland and with some dates in London in the diary, The Vincent(s) are busy boys. I hope their travels with bring them north of the border very soon.
