
Vesper Rose – Autumn Leaves
Being a rockstar or robbing people at gunpoint – these are two of the last remaining ways in which a regular person can become the hero or villain of their story. Everything else is just earning money and paying bills in a cycle that seems never-ending but isn’t.
For those without the skills or the courage to approach music or a life of crime, the need to get close to the people who can do this is larger than nearly anything else. Without a thrill, some fear, some death-defying tricks, life would be hard to endure.
Vesper Rose is a new band, but the musicians have clearly worked out their direction. It’s not just sounds of various bands that they want to take as influence, but an interest in darkness, horror, and drama.
“Autumn Leaves” is a nice mix of early, horror-branded AFI, classic heavy metal flourishes, and biker gang rock n’ roll. It’s a rock melodrama, a four-minute tragedy, something to remind listeners that each day is a fight. That’s all enough to get excited about this new group and to make the musicians think that they’ve found their winning formula after all.
th3 L3p3rs – Neon Demon
There’s a movie coming out, which I encourage you to boycott virulently, about a famous folk singer angering his acoustic-guitar-loving audience by playing his song at double speed on an electric Telecaster.
That may be part of rock n’ roll lore, but is it really something worth celebrating? Do you go to the grocery store to buy your favourite vegan burger and are happy when they substitute it with Argentinian beef? You surely don’t write any congratulatory letters when your favourite lager has started being made without any alcohol in it. Surprised?
The majority of artists who are actually successful provide a service. Audiences keep coming back because they know what to expect and because they need what the artist is typically providing. Why be so heartless as to disappoint them?
th3 L3p3rs know very well who they are on the party-in-hell single “Neon Demon.” And I bet you can take a wild guess yourself just from reading the band’s name and song title. The American group works with dark, morbid sounds married to 80s-styled production. It’s radio-friendly synth-pop corrupted by darkwave and gothic music. It’s the kind of music meant for movie biographies of serial killers. Knowing there’s a market for this, I predict that the well-dressed degenerates who love this will return for more.