Violent Soho
Violent Soho
What meaning does grunge – a genre built on flannel, apathy and bong hits – still hold in 2010? According to Violent Soho’s eponymous second record not much at all, writes RENÉ SCHAEFER.
Like punk, the epithet grunge means a lot of things to a lot of different people. For many who came of age during grunge’s first flowering in the early ’90s, listening to Nirvana’s bastard offspring now is a bitter-sweet experience. Any sense of nostalgia is quickly subsumed by an immense disappointment at grunge’s failure to live up to its initial promise: to blast the cobwebs off a moribund pop culture.
In hindsight, it’s clear that a musical movement built on apathy, cynicism and pulling bongs could never truly change anything. Grunge lacked clear messages or politics and was ripe for exploitation by a music industry hungry for a last wad of cash before the looming digital apocalypse.
So where does a young neo-grunge band from Brisbane called Violent Soho fit into the picture? Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore loved them and signed them to his uber cool Ecstatic Peace label; they have been touring their arses off relentlessly in America and Canada, alongside luminaries such as Built To Spill, Dinosaur Jr and The Bronx; veteran producer Gil Norton (Pixies, Foo Fighters) has put his distinctive sonic stamp on their self-titled major label sophomore album; and the current single ‘Jesus Stole My Girlfriend’ has cracked both the Billboard Top 40 and the Canadian Top 20.
Surely we should be proud, but the question is: what meaning does grunge still hold in 2010? The outward trappings of the style, adopted with gusto by Violent Soho, are a kind of shorthand for honesty and passion in music, but beyond the mighty crunch of the guitars, the thudding monster drums and the straining vocals, what we are left with are songs that practically beg for comparison to their progenitors.
Sounding like Nirvana or The Pixies is something Violent Soho appear to be completely at ease with. In so closely aligning themselves with these much-loved and oft-copied icons, Violent Soho must be very sure of their ability to measure up. They can certainly play their instruments and construct a decent quiet/loud rock song, but let’s face it - so can thousands of other aspiring young musicians. Examining Violent Soho’s songs gives little indication that they possess either the wit of Black Francis, or the ability to express existential angst ala Kurt Cobain.
“Beyond the mighty crunch of the guitars, the thudding monster drums and the straining vocals, what we are left with are songs that practically beg for comparison to their progenitors.”
Songs like ‘Son Of Sam’ and ‘Love Is A Heavy Word’ may have some decent hooks, but they suffer from the kind of heavy-handed production that already seemed dated a decade ago. ‘Generation’ sets itself up as a contemporary answer to The Who’s Mod anthem, but communicates little beyond a trite hedonism. The structure and chords of ‘Muscle Junkie’ are pure cliche and become tiresome without the benefit of a contrasting middle-eight or a memorable sing-along chorus.
Of the more successful songs, ‘Outsider’ is a nice acoustic ballad, which allows listeners to appreciate Luke Boerdam’s voice in a more conducive setting than the “Modern Rock” bombast that dominates the rest of this record. A simple cello part adds some emotional resonance. Too bad about the fifth form poetry.
‘Slippery Tongue’, despite its indebtedness to Cobain, is actually a fine tune and features some cool guitar parts that sound like cats meowing backwards, while the emo-inflected FM rock of ‘Narrow Ways’ points towards a potential future songwriting direction. Tasteful slide guitar parts lift the song above the morass of grunge-by-numbers and the vocal delivery sounds slightly less histrionic.
The problem is that Silverchair made a record like this 15 years ago – and it wasn’t very good then. The Vines’ Highly Evolved repeated the formula seven years later and shot up the charts around the world. Violent Soho’s record company has got its fingers crossed for another Aussie success story. The band’s proven work ethic makes them a safer bet in terms of longevity and profitability than The Vines ever were. But to justify their already considerable success overseas, Violent Soho needed to deliver an album that expressed something original about its creators. Instead, they have failed to establish that they are more than a group of clever imitators.
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Violent Soho is out now through Liberation/Universal.
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this is an interesting proposition. i'm trying to think of a band being known and regarded for their work ethic that has been as profitable as one renown for being loose nuts or being fronted by a “difficult” artiste. grunge bands in particular.
I thought it would be a little longer before the press started turning on them.
Great writing, Rene. Looking forward to seeing how this compares to their debut. It's a curious 'release strategy' to repackage most of the same songs under a different album name.
Not really, Night Shock. This will be most likely marketed to U.S + U.K peeps who wouldn't have heard the orignal.
So far I have only heard the re recorded version of ''Jesus stole my Girlfriend''. I think it sounds way better now then it did on the record they did with Dean Turner.
This review sums up a few of my thoughts about what's slightly off with this record.
Was ''Outsider'' meant to be their stab at Bush's ''Glycerine''?
what a sledging!
Nirvana and The Pixies sound nothing alike ...
Sorry Kate, but Kurt Cobain acknowledged that The Pixies were a huge influence on Nirvana, and that he had taken the whole quiet verse / loud chorus idea from them. The idea that you could have raucous guitars with catchy pop vocal hooks might not have been exclusive to the Pixies, but there was a huge difference between early Sabbath/punk Nirvana and the heavily Pixies-inspired 'Nevermind' songs.
Husker Du –> Pixies –> Nirvana
Violent Soho --> Husker Du --> Pixies --> Nirvana
That's better.
i reckon 'jesus stole my girlfriend' is pretty cool
and i love how the front bloke's name is luke boerdam.
that's a name at least as good as kurt and black francis
I loved them when I saw them live but think 'Jesus Stole My Girlfriend' is woeful, mainly becasue of the song title/chorus... it sounds like a Jay Jay's t-shirt catch phrase.
ha! it is too. they probably wear jay-jays flannel as well.
but they are so unashamed about it all. that's the impression i got from this album. that they felt they were free to ''do'' this.
i'm just cranky they rerecorded so much material
write some new songs!
the cover even looks like a still from a Mark Pellington video
and yet, The Dead Farmers are applauded for aping the Stooges and the MC5? there ya go rock kids, steer clear of the past deemed naff and you'll be sweet...too bad if your heroes are from the wrong era
i agree with daveyaviator
Now if we only had a band aping apes. That to me would be a perfect compromise. That silverback at Taronga should sing. He is perfect, scary as fuck and just a little bit like Tony Soprano.
ha! beautiful Lax...still reminiscing over your day at the zoo?
as long as different primates play different instruments...they can't all be silverbacks - that'd be lame
Hell yeah...the zoo is where it's at. Your right. Can't all be silverbacks. Luc Chai should totally play bass, I'd get Shuffles but he's busy with his celebritism (is that even a fucking word) right now and couldn't commit to a band. Luc Chai has a monster bass sound in him. I just know it.
I reckon Bubbles may have picked up a thing or two from his owner over the years. Er, musically speaking
Beatboxes like a mofo.
bah, what's the use Lax? some killjoy's bound to claim the gorillaz did it better ten years ago
Pfttt! Apes were doin' it B.C. style man...
... but Jesus DID steal his girlfriend.
They're not trying to be groundbreaking alternate-nu-wave-hyper-kraut-electro space jazz from the middle east, so get over it. they play simple grunge-rock and do it exceptionally well, Would rather listen to their strand than most of the newcomers and predecessors.. they always smash it live.
don't stress oort the review just says the record is pedestrian. they're nice guys but the music aint exceptional
and liam you misinterpreted my comment.....
husker du influenced the pixies and they in turn influenced nirvana
I fucked your girlfriend
I don't see why you can't just let people make music they enjoy. I mean, just cause they're a ''grunge'' band, doesn't mean they have to have any kind of agenda behind it to make themselves appear ''geniune'' enough, they could just be making music. It's that simple.
it's that simple.
Fuck this band.
They have some good tunes, and I am keen to see them live. Fuck, they may be imitators but at least they are imitating good bands.
Simply, VS did not fit into the Laneway mould. They knew that, and said so during the Melbourne early set time, which also did not suit. The 'Victorian Pussies' was a barb at the crossed arm, gravel gazers in front of the stage to challenge them to show some emotion. I never heard 'brothers in punk' quote, only saying theat LSF were the only band they knew of and were great. And the M&N dedication intro was ''sometimes I love you, sometimes I hate you..''. After reading some comments here, can you blame them?
Dear VS,
If you're reading this - I LOVE YOU!!!
Love,
A mess&noiser
When are they playing in Melbourne again? I tried to see the at NSC but it sold out. Fuck knows why they were put on the Pitchfork friendly Laneway bill, not a good fit. They are more a BDO or Falls band and would be a great addition to the Golden Plains line up.