VESSELS have been nudging insistently at the edge of UK new music since their near-apocalyptic debut on the unsigned stage at last year's Leeds Festival. This second single on Cuckundoo Records (distributed by Forte if your local dealer can’t track it down) steps up another level. The national radio pioneers like Stuart Maconie and Huw Stephens who have already noticed and played the band should find one or two more mainstream presenters taking an interest this time.
"Two Words And A Gesture" seems to me to confirm that while "post-rock" was the phase within which the band members reached their own musical maturity, VESSELS are simply pushing on with the creation of complex, intelligent and satisfying music that can touch far more people than the minority taste makers and bleeding-edge finders who were digging Tortoise and God Speed! 6 or 7 years ago.
No, damn the label, soak up the music. There is a wide dynamic range, there are big drums and guitars, several sections, complex rhythms, lyrical passages, a fine crescendo to finish, and it’s all huge-pleasure listening. Tom Evans' gentle voice centres it all.
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Flip side "Clear And Calm" could be "Neon Golden" era NOTWIST - a sweet song with the luxury of clever, emotion-seeking band noises that work one bar at a time rather than in the prefabricated slabs that weigh down and stultify the standard indie rock staple. By the time it gets to four minutes, there's a full storm blowing, but no one is destroyed. The pleasure is in giving all the senses and all the emotions a good work-out.
www.vesselsband.com
www.myspace.com/vesselsband
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