Vestals - Vestals

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 16 / 1 / 2005

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Review

There is something endearingly romantic about bands that feature sibling combos (hands up anybody that wasn’t secretly disappointed when they found out that Jack & Meg White weren’t really brother and sister?). I’m definitely attracted to a vision of brothers bonding over music, learning their instruments together and helping each other write songs. The latest band in a line that probably started with the Kinks is the Vestals, formed around the songwriting core of the Gordon brothers and assisted by drummer Mario Graza and bassist Mark Weigel. They have been active throughout the past year in Minnesota, a music scene that I can pretend little knowledge of! This self-titled album is their first. The disc is no musical revelation; it neither blazes with instrumental sophistication, nor dazzles with songwriting innovation. Yet there are enough twists in the songs, and the Vestals are adept at missing the clichés bands similarly rooted in classic pop/rock stumble over. The real appeal of this album is that the comfortable feel of familiarity it provides never becomes stifling. The best moments come in the second half of the album. 'Another Way to Kill Me' has a pretty melody and sounds a bit like Ron Sexsmith fronting a merseybeat group. 'Too Late To Say Goodbye' is classic power pop, with a jubilant guitar solo but also an air of melancholy that makes me think of Elliott Smith. The most ambitious track is 'Forever Its True'. This begins with a lilting acoustic guitar over a light drum track, over which we hear distorted vocals recorded in a manner not unlike Julian Casablancas on the debut Strokes album. Just when it seems bound to burst into an alt-rock-out, the gear changes and it becomes a bouncy pop song. Best of all is 'Three Girls Ago', which kicks off with a George Harrison-esque guitar line, but with very powerful drumming soon becomes a power-pop classic, like a slightly more lethargic Weezer. This song has cool harmonies and a downright killer guitar solo, and is not unlike reformed Britrock heroes Silver Sun. Other reviewers have made plenty of comparisons between this album and 'Magical Mystery Tour'. Indeed, there are nods to the Beatles in the Vestals’ sound, and also to the prettier moments of Paul McCartney’s solo albums, but the Vestals also has a modern alt. rock feel, best exemplified by the opening track’s melody and vocal lines that could have popped straight off 'The Bends'. The Vestals will have to resist the temptation to slip into bland radio friendly mope-rock but, right now, this is a delicious debut.

Track Listing:-

1 Seven Hours
2 Telescope
3 Three Girls Ago
4 Childhood Timeouts
5 Another Way to Kill Me
6 Before The Color Dries
7 Forever, It's True
8 Face the Ground
9 Too Late To Say Goodbye
10 Someday