When I bought the latest Ceremony album based on Amber’s stellar recommendation, the label threw in a copy of the new Screen Vinyl Image single, “Chaser,” for free. One good turn deserves another, and all that, so I thought I’d give it a brief review here.
The A-side is a beautiful combination of darkwave and neo-goth, with a dash of shoegazing thrown in for good measure. A fuzzed-out bassline that drives most of the song steamrollers over almost psychedelic guitars, loping mechanical drums, and a brilliant weeping synth line. The vaguely Peter Murphy-esque vocals sound like they’re filtering out of a candlelit stairwell somewhere in the seediest possible part of town. Throw it all together and it’s a marvelous effect. You need to hear this song.
The band generously includes five other tracks on the single, all of which are live recordings. I’m kind of torn on what to make of them. The vocals on all of them are impossibly washed out, well past the point of complete incomprehensibility, and the rest of the sound quality isn’t so good either, especially on “Roaming Spirit Freedom” and the first version of “16mm Shrine.” From what I can hear, they’re probably a pretty good live band, but given that these versions aren’t much better than bootleg-quality, I wouldn’t consider them prime evidence of that fact. This kind of music requires thoughtful mixing to bring out all the nuances that bring interest to the repetition and the drones. Take that away, and it just sounds like mud.
SVI have released one EP aside from this single, but they still haven’t come out with a full-length. On the basis of the A-side, I’d dearly love to hear such an album. But in the meantime, despite my issues with the quality of the B-sides, I’d still recommend this single too, just because the A-side is amazing.
Label: Safranin Sound
Release date: 2007
Rating: 7/10 (9/10 for just the A-side)
2 Comments »
great review. you really do need to hear the ep that preceded this release. they also just put a new track up on their myspaz page. neat.
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Comment by amber — December 2, 2007 @ 11:49 am
awesome. i had the same reaction as you about the live recordings. it just made me wish i could have been there. i thought the 2nd version of 16mm kicked ass though, questionable quality or not.
the single is fucking great, though. you really need to hear the EP, the midnight sun. it’s excellent.