REVIEW: Former Vandal — The Grieving Young: Alt-Pop Deadbeats Brings The Afterparty To You
Former Vandal, a pop-duo from Fort Wayne, IN. Just released their debut full-length album. Previous releases consisted solely of singer and songwriter Quinn Wentz, but judging from changes to various biographies on their website, the alt-pop deadbeat (his words, not mine) has become alt-pop deadbeats, with the addition of Christian Delzoppo on drums and percussion.
With the new album one member became two, and the sound changed with that. The album is still very poppy, melodic and dance-able, but the sound has changed towards a more retro, 80’s revival styled pop-album with more focus on guitars than previous releases.
Straight away we have super-catchy and danceable tracks like Parliaments that sound like something fans of The 1975 and bands of that ilk would gobble right up. The album cover has a small text above the album title that says “A sonic recollection of youth and emotional significance by Former Vandal”, which is a very telling and accurate description of what this album brings to the table. The sound is very nostalgic but still remains relevant in today’s soundscape.
We have catchy guitars, singing that tugs on your heartstrings and some pretty synths twinkling in the background of most songs.
We also have tracks that have a foot in the more modern and leave the 80’s influences to a minimum, such as the track “Blow”, that comes in with a very dance-able electronic beat, sampled vocals, and keeps the guitars to a minimum until a pretty rockin’ guitar solo comes in around 2/3 into the song.
“Party Foul” into “Belladonna” is also an enjoyable suite of softer tracks that I guess one could label as being ballads covered in a nostalgic haze.
I would say that the lyrics are the weak point of this album, but I don’t want it to bring down the score of this album, because what I call “weak” here, is mostly the simplicity of the lyrics, and it also seems to be the actual intent in this project, creating lyrics that are relatable and more simple, because the album is a harkening back to the pains and pleasures of being young and growing up.
Still, we have a few cheesy lines that the album might’ve been better off without.
The song titles are quite possibly my least favorite aspect of the album, with titles such as “Blow”, “Summer Jobs”, “New Suburban Gothic”, and “Cherry”. Not bad per se, but a little cliché.
I would strongly recommend this album to people who are fans of bands such as the aforementioned The 1975, but I also get some LANY vibes, and the vocals have a touch of Chase Atlantic in them.
I strongly feel that they are building their own identity, but one could argue that the sound is just a little bit derivative of their contemporaries in this genre. But they combat that with just doing it very well.
What’s impressive is that two guys in a currently, as-of-today, unsigned band have created this very impressive, 16-track, 57-minute long album. The production sounds very solid for what it is, and even though it’s not remarkable in any way, it all sounds crisp and balanced. Some could argue that the album is a bit hefty, but personally I enjoyed the length of the album when it accompanied me on late bus rides home, just letting the music play. That said, it’s understandable that some people might find it tiresome and tedious to get through all 16 tracks.
This is a band with less than 1000 followers on Facebook, but still around 50,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, which on both fronts is far less than what they deserve.
I believe great things could be in store for these guys if they just work a little more on originality and invest in/push for their promotion.
This feels like an album they needed to write, but with time, and a renewed focus on lyrical content, they could be a force to be reckoned with.
Our score (as featured in How To Art episode 1):
How To Art is a podcast hosted by Sebastian Lejon and Petravita, exploring advice, interviews, and discussions for those looking to make creative pursuits a bigger part of their life and livelihood. Additionally, each episode features three music reviews, ranging from small indie projects up to recent major label releases.
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