It’s quite hard to write an interesting review of an album that seems to sit in the middle of the road. If the music is awful, then you can rant about the audacity of the band to release such muck. Likewise, it’s easy to wax lyrical about something that blows you away – there’s just more of a reaction to draw from. An album that neither annoys nor excites sparks no passion. Bring On The Comets, the new album from American outfit VHS Or Beta, is one such album, and if this review seems arduous to read, it was equally as onerous to form a conclusive opinion for it.
The opening track, Euglama, sets the scene wonderfully. It’s a perfectly forgettable electronic intro that fades in over a disposable dance beat and goes nowhere – a precursor for the album that doesn’t quite know what it wants to be.
Lead single Can’t Believe A Single Word is a fun, catchy tune that recalls Phoenix and most Britpop singers of the past ten years. It’s a highlight, albeit one that sounds like a lot of other bands going around. A sometimes angular, sometimes driving drum beat frames an endearing guitar pattern and enjoyable melody, and if the rest of the album followed such a lead then it would be a wholly better offering. Even then however, it would still be simply following the lead of countless other rock/dance bands and would make very little impact on this listener.
There are more good songs, but none of them are great. Bring On The Comets makes a sound attempt at a soaring emotional connection, but ends up sounding like songwriter Craig Pfunder listened to too much Keane and Snow Patrol in the process. Fall Down Lightly makes the same mistake in its cheesy chorus, spoiling what was a promising opening 60 seconds. We Could Be One does the opposite; the hook in the chorus is exciting, but unfortunately is the only part of the song deserving of such an adjective.
Proving my theory that VHS Or Beta would sound better with less drum machine and more drum kit, Love In My Pocket is almost solid. It has an appealing power chord refrain and bouncy harmonies, but is still flimsy. It, like the entire album, is too clean. One can’t help but feel that these songs would resonate if they were only played by a slightly edgy guitar band, not a guitar band going for crossover appeal. Who knows, maybe with a little less production and a lot more attitude, Bring On The Comets would elicit a real energy.
As it is however, the album is pleasant but falls flat. Realistically, as the last full stop is typed on this snobbish reflection, the CD is enjoying its last spin before being relegated to the shelf, where it will probably be forgotten.
