Review: The Vickers - Ghosts
[Black Candy; 2014]
Rating: 3/10
By Zack Baker, Editorial Director
Key Tracks: “She’s Lost”
The Vickers are an odd bunch, and the music they release is just as hard to put a finger on. They make fairly straightforward psychedelic music with a pinch of ‘60s rock ‘n’ roll snarl, but nothing on Ghosts is particularly engaging.
Ghosts is the band’s sophomore full-length, a comeback from a five-year dry spell. The Italian group hit the scene with Keep Clear, a completely different kind of album loaded with songs that bounce around in the dark much like The Strokes’ output. That was way back in 2009, and now The Vickers are back with a different approach.
The whole album feels out of place. Back in 2009, The Vickers were making indie rock at its most generic. Keep Clear had some psychedelic ideas (the main riff of “It’s Not Easy” comes to mind) but for the most part it wasn’t shy about pulling from the work of bands who were hitting it big, such as The Hold Steady and The Strokes--it really leaned on The Strokes.
The album felt like a harmless dip into indie rock for the band. Sure, it may have been an attempt to get their hands on some of the indie-rush money, but everyone was doing it. Now, five years later, it’s hard to see Ghosts as anything more than a grab for the coattails of bands like Tame Impala or Fuzz.
The Vickers have ditched almost everything that was present on Keep Clear with this new record, making it feel hollow. The band may hit all of the necessary marks--loads of reverb, winding guitar solos and drums that feel like they were recorded underwater--but it doesn’t have any substance. It’s almost like The Vickers started as a parody band without remembering to let anyone in on the joke.
Album opener “She’s Lost” actually provides for an interesting listen. A catchy-if-familiar routine from the rhythm section keeps the song grooving along, and the interplay between vocals and the waves of guitar chords is a classic technique that The Vickers pull off well. Everything seems designed to get the head nodding, and it certainly accomplishes that.
Nothing else on the album ever reaches the high-water mark set by the opener. There are a few interesting experiments, particularly in the album’s back half. “Walking on a Rope” is a refreshing change of pace, trading the Fuzz War pedals for an acoustic guitar. It’s very reminiscent of Ty Segall’s newer material, and works well until the drums kick in and it falls back into the monotony of the rest of the album.
The Vickers understand the psychedelic sound, but they don’t understand the feeling behind the genre. Shoddy production and mixing don’t help things, with the drums frequently lacking any depth, just floating atop the sea of drowning guitar chords. Ghosts ends up feeling like little more than a shitty Xerox copy of a Rembrandt; it looks and sounds just like the classics, but the depth and heart are completely absent.
