The major record labels are still willing to pay a fortune to people who promise they’ll uncover the future of music for them. They promise access to a musical revolution. And they say that they’ll achieve this by bringing in new sounds or scouting the people who have access to the trends of the future.
But, rejoice, since rock music isn’t bound to be hit by The Revolution. It doesn’t need to. Nothing about it is wrong, except for the fact that most of the people who pretend to do it, can’t. Yep, people in the music industry have bigger brains than their predecessors. But rock comes from the gut.
Noisy Vertigo’s album “Twenty Years” contains only songs developed instinctively and through a belief in the vintage qualities of rock n’ roll. Doing this means taking quite a plunge. It’s like jumping out of an aeroplane, hoping that the parachute will open in time. No worries, Noisy Vertigo’s tune glides seamlessly.
Excitement is the name of the game for rock and for vitality itself. Album opener, “Beth” offers a first glimpse into that. Break-up sounds shouldn’t sound so giddy. But if Noisy Vertigo songs have one quality, it is that almost all of them turbocharge through choruses that sound positively giddy.
“Bloody Kisses” gives the distortion pedal a real work as the guitars strive for stadium-rock acceptance. “Down Into the Hives” wears its garage-rock influence on its sleeve.
In the right era and with the appropriate circumstances guiding them, this French outfit would be playing the coolest clubs in town while being scouted by record personnel whispering, “Next big thing!” in between drinking expensive cocktail drinks.
It’s because Noisy Vertigo are a band that has reduced the excitement of rock music to its bare essentials. “Fuck Off’ is a punk-rock song that sounds like someone pushing you out the door. “Who is Bad Now” is pure indie-rock disco material. “Summer Rain” is an ode to falling back in love with life and with another girl on a daily basis.
The songwriter clearly understands the music’s strengths. But it doesn’t mean that variety is not appreciated either. “You’ll Be My Last One” is a mournful acoustic grunge breakup song and a chance to integrate a male-female vocal duet. And, “J’ai laissé une femme” that the material has to a power-ballad, and a convincing one at that.
But, Noisy Vertigo keeps the best trick for last. “Twenty Years,” the song that also provides the album with its title, contains plummeting riffs, a fine dose of fury and the kind of vocal performance that recalls Silverchair’s Daniel Johns.
Yeah, rock is in safe hands, no matter what the record labels tell you. It requires little adjustment. And unless you can get a kick out of listening to someone create the kind of guitar noise-pop that Noisy Vertigo is responsible for, you might just be losing touch.
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