I like it when bands manage to make progress. This is my third Vice review and every record has been better than the last and that, to me, kind of justifies writing a review and trying to pass on my thoughts. When bands seemingly take heed of what people (not just me) have to say to improve - and then go on and become better - it validates the whole process of gaining comments. Vice have certainly listened and taken on board the variety of comments that came with their release of their second - and impressive - demo CD. The result is another impressive record and one that will hopefully start to give them the credit their hard work deserves.
'You wont get away this time Dooku' is far and away the best song Vice have ever written. In fact, if every song was as good as this one we'd be adding a star to the score. There's a kind of Coheed and Cambria groove going on; vocally there's a touch of Lostprophets too. The song structure in 'Dooku' specifically is really top notch, especially compared to their older material which, at times, maybe lacked direction. The other three songs are of a high standard too - each offers a little something different although based around a similar theme. I like how they've managed to weave a chorus into almost every song without needing to be conventional about it all.
So why has this only got 3.5 and not a higher score? For me Vice lack a certain something - it's not a massive something at all and I reckon Simon Cowell could quite easily claim it's the 'x factor'. 'Dooku' has it and the second song has glimpses of it, but for me Vice don't quite hit the money shot every single time. They're not far off on the remaining two tracks, but they're not quite there either. And while this demo sounds the business in places, consistency is the key.
I have no doubt this band can go on to more impressive things because of the way they've made strides in the last year. However, this record isn't quite the one that will do it. The ideas are there, the structures are solid and at times the songs are brilliant. All the band need to do now is pull this together over the course of a six song EP and they'll be in business. The tracks here are promising, a decent spell on the road next summer will probably help them along the way even more.
www.myspace.com/vice
Paul
