Two way Monologues

Tom Vek: We Have Sound

I am a sucker for an ambitious solo artist who decides to go it solo and rock the one-man band approach. I blame Beck for this weakness, but whenever somebody attempts to do it I am at the very least going to give it a listen. Tom Vek, as you could have guessed attempts this very feat. With almost no help Vek's "We Have Sound" is a bold album. At times dabbling in a less blatantly catchy post punk style, other times going into folk-hop (which is likely why the Beck comparisons come from), and I should also mention Vek also spends a lot of time working with electronic elements and using cutting edge production.

The neighsayers say this album lacks feeling. That Vek has managed to micromanage and overproduce to the point that the album loses character. I don't see this criticism personally. So the guy has a dry voice... that hasnt' stopped plenty of other musicians in the past so why should it stop him? Not every singer has to have a fresh off the presses good for all audiences perfect voice and if every singer did I'd probably never be into music anywhere near as much as I am now. Instead Vek works with what he has. And you know what? What he has it damn good enough. He can be catchy when he wants to be but it is clear that isn't his sole goal with this album. If it was the entire disc would sound like "I Ain't Saying My Goodbyes" (which by the way is already doing remarkably well now that the album has been released in North America.

You are going to hear me talk about Beck a fair bit here, and I think the comparison is valid. Vek is not the same callibre as Beck but you can tell that clearly this album was highly inspired by Beck and in particular the "Odelay" record. I wouldn't call Vek a poor man's Beck both because it would be an insult to Beck and to Vek himself as this is a lot more than an impression. I think it is safe to say without Beck, Tom Vek likely wouldn't have existed at least not in this format and that is alright. Because i'm happy "We Have Sound" came out. Now we do the songs.

We kick off with "C-C (You Set The Fire In Me)" which has a somewhat dry catchiness to it. It actually reminds me a fair bit of something I would expect to find on a Soul Coughing album in that regard. His voice has that same dry, rough, and yet catch quality that Mike Doughty always had. Musically this song doesn't sound like a Soul Coughing song though. They have like an accordion, a drum kit cranked, and a little bit of bass that is about it. In particular I like the huge drums that are featured throughout, and the repetetive lyrics that draw you into the song. This is one of those songs that likes to repeat the chorus more than a few times. The drums at times even remind me of something you would find on a Fourtet record which harks back to that electronic influence I was referring to earlier. Neat song, and I like that they kept the blatant single to track two rather than misleading the listener right away.

Speaking about that misleading single track-fu winner "I Ain't Saying My Goodbyes" is soon to be assaulting the airwaves near you. Here Vek opens up with the now staple repeat guitar riff, then the predictable drums are added to the mix. And at 30 seconds the catchy vocals join. Love it or hate it this has become the accepted formula for a post-punk hit (thank you Franz). But, before you write it off this song actually excels in the format. Rather than making a prototypical rip off song Vek uses the formula and expands. The bass is much more heavy, and this isn't danceable rock it is more like a dance/electronic song that also could be considered post-punk. In that sense it reminds me more of a band like The Rapture. Speaking of which, when are they going to follow up their last album? Anyhow, big portions of this song are vocalless instead focussing on the dance quality, and the trance like drums/handclaps vibe that Vek has created. Definitely one of the best "post-punk" singles of 2005.

Still, as good as the blatantly obvious choice for a single is/was for me the Odelayesque "If I Had Changed My Mind" hands down takes the cake as the premium slice on this album. If I had my way Vek would have made the entire album this way. It commences with some out of tune sounding guitars, and Vek's vocals are distorted like he was singing out of a megaphone. The entire song has an unbalanced sound. Like Vek was singing it in the looney bin or something like that. He even drops the monotone and mixes in an attempt at hitting the high note, but the fact he can't really hit that note and it sounds forced works even better with the style of the track. The guitar much like Vek's voice attempts to hit a high note but because he is playing it out of tune it also has an awkward sound. This song is awkardly loveable. A bit of an ugly duckling thing going on. Check it out.

The album drifts further away from the mainstream as it progresses. "Nothing But Green Lights" has more in common with Fourtet than it ever would with Franz Ferdinand. The background is full of sunshine with spliced high pitched guitars sounding like they are raining down on you. Vek has a knack for knowing how to utilize a few different sounds to create a backdrop that makes up for him not having the greatest voice ever. This song sounds great jacked up, with the bass pounding, and the raining guitars splattering. I don't even need to mention the vocals, this song is good in spite of them. Vek is more talented instrumentally, and on production than he is on vocals.

Finally, the album ends with "That Can Be Arranged" which combines the the slow, sing-talking style of Mike Doughty on Soul Coughing with a nifty electronically infused backdrop sprinkled with spastic blips. The last few songs on the album are loaded with layers which take a few listens to get into. Which brings me back to the criticism that Vek doesn't have much personality. So what if he had no vocals and just made an electronic album? Would he then be said to have no personality? Just something that came to mind. I doubt people say that about Beck and his voice often lacks in the personality department. I like the intricacies of Vek's production and I think his personality is found more in the production than in the vocals.

"We Have Sound" runs just a touch under 40 with a 10 song tracklist. I have mentioned half of the tracks in this review. The other half isn't as notable as the ones I did mention. They suffer from struggling to find a home. Instead landing somewhere in nowhere's land neither poppy enough to latch onto the mainstream, or unique enough to get lauded as being full of great production and style. Overtime I think Vek will address this and become even better than he is now. Though how much I like it remains to be seen whether he embraces the radio side of his music or the talented side. We'll soon find out.

Songs to download: "C-C (You Set The Fire In Me)", "I Ain't Saying My Goodbyes", "If I Could Change My Mind", "Nothing But Green Lights", "That Can Be Arranged"

SCORE: 8.0 (Half the songs very good to great, and half the songs average to decent. Seems about right for the score.)

posted by Daysthatareover @ 5:28 PM