The Vasco Era - Oh We DoLike to Be Beside theSeaside

Thu 24th May, 2007 in Music Reviews

12 seconds. That’s how long it takes The Vasco Era ’s debut album to hit full speed, and they only come back down for a couple of songs. Oh We Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside has been a long time coming, but it’s more than worth the wait, as the dirty blues-rock songs on this album will leave all listeners tapping their feet.

Hailing from Apollo Bay on the coast of Victoria, The Vasco Era is comprised of brothers Sid and Ted O’Neil on guitar and bass respectively, and compatriot Michael Fitzgerald on drums. Sid makes his stunning vocals stand out against the wall of sound that powers out from behind them. The long wait for their debut album has been sated by regular touring, during which they’ve proven themselves to be one of the best live acts in Australia. Oh We Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside was produced by Jeff Saltzman (The Killers, The Black Keys), who has perfectly captured the live sound of a band on top of their game. This album transports the listener to all the dirty pool halls and dingy pubs that give birth to great blues rock.

Album opener When it First Showed Up is a perfect example of the brilliant work of The Vasco Era. It’s filled to the brim with driving drum work and big chunky guitar riffs, while Sid shout-sings his raspy lyrics over the top. It calms down a little for the crooning finale of the song, which then kicks without a moments pause into the even more frenetic When We All Lost it. When We Tried to Get You to Settle Down is a little more controlled, with Sid crooning the chorus “There’s no storybook/There’s no user guide/There’s no storybook/About this kinda time” over a some strained guitar plucking.

When You Went brings back the chunky riffs, before Sid goes solo for When We Tried to Party to Forget About it, which, at just under five minutes, feels like an epic, compared to the shorter earlier songs. The second half of the album passes in much the way of the first, but the album’s best track Honey Bee (When It Was Making Weird Love Songs) bucks the trend by exceeding five minutes, and stuffs those five minutes with a riff that listeners will feel from the backs of their throats all the way to the pits of their stomachs. Album closer When the Good Times Were Coming slows down for its start, but launches into an epic finish that will leave listeners eagerly returning to the start of the album for another dose.

Of course, it’s not a perfect album. Sid may have a brilliant blues voice, but it renders many of his lyrics indecipherable, and the music can get a little repetitive. The track and album titles feel like a concept album, but it’s not entirely clear what the concept is supposed to be. The boys seem content to just rock out, and that’s fine, but it feels like they were aiming for something a little higher.

But, when it comes down to it, the proof of an album is in the listening, and listening to this album is an experience like few others. With more blues credibility in one note than some bands can conjure in an entire career, and more balls out rock per song than we’ve seen in quite a while, The Vasco Era are destined for greatness. Less an album, and more a living document, Oh We Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside is a testament and tribute to a live show that knows no equal, and is an early contender and frontrunner for album of the year