Home  Reviews Album Vigilantes- Howard City
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Written by Drew
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Friday, 14 April 2006 |
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We had the pleasure of checking out Vigilantes a while back when they were kind enough to drive down from Grand Rapids for a show in Huntington. We picked up their cd, Howard City, so the boys could (hopefully) afford some burritos for the trip home, and of course because cds are fun to listen to sometimes.
When attempting to describe a band I like to try to think of what a band is trying to be, and in the case of the Vigilante, the answer is very plainly stated on their Myspace page (http://www.myspace.com/vigilantes):
Vigilantes strive to play no-nonsense rock and roll with contagious choruses while avoiding the pressure of throw-back garage fads. To them, straight rock and roll doesn’t need reinvention, it needs resurrection. Bassist Luke Shoemaker puts this goal in very simple terms. “We don’t want to be just a scene band, we don’t want to be just a bar rock band either. We want to make good music.” Taking cues from early rock and roll pioneers, Vigilantes wrote, recorded, and released “Howard City” within months of becoming a band.
‘Straight rock’ is apparently some bastard child of 70's rock and alternative. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your whim, there are a lot of bands out there trying to resurrect straight rock and many are straight boring. But rest assured, this old dawg has seen enough run of the mill bands to know that Vigilantes aren’t one. They are supremely devoted to writing catchy, hooky songs with biting lyrics and plenty of rock/punk attitude. I think this is what Luke is getting at (in the above quote) when he says, "We want to make good music." However, Vigilantes are more than just a Beatles-melody borrowing wanna-be band with a garage rock facade. They have an arresting stage presence, a 70's rock schtick that will have your tight ass jeans swishing and your asymmetrical haircut bouncing in tune.
Howard City opens appropriately with a short sound bite of footsteps walking across a room and a guitar being plugged into an amp…then comes the rock as the drums kick in on the appropriately named first tack, Vigilante Burnout. The album literally sounds as if the band was just rocking out in a basement and someone happened to be there to hit the record button. The ‘live’ sound is certainly appropriate for this type of music, but it can have its nuances. At low volumes the drums are overbearing and the guitar sounds thin. However, with the volume cranked up a bit, the sound begins to fill the room. The guitar sounds warmer and begins to overcome some of the more dispersed drum echo making a very energetic, pleasing and believable ‘live’ sound.
There is more to great songwriting than the right musical packaging, catchy riffs and a good sound. Howard City carries its real weight in the form of poetic and direct social commentary that breaks the mold of a genre that is typically naïve and hypocritical. Vigilantes don’t mess around with cheesy drawn out rock ballads either, instead deliver 10 short and to the point rockers that total less than 30 minutes of playing time. A couple standouts include the second track, “Hey You”, a catchy sing-a-long with a great little guitar hook and ends not so subtly with the repetition of “there’s got to be a deeper meaning, a reason I’m still breathing, an answer to the aching in my soul”…absolutely beautiful. Another favorite of mine is the anti-materialist “When I Grow Old” with the chorus “When I am old, assuming I will be one day, and all my bones and flesh are withering away, I hope that I can stand and lift my head up high, to say I lived for more than what possessions give”.
The bottom line is that Howard City stands alone on lyrics and songwriting. The listener gets a great bonus in that Vigilantes managed to pack a great deal of the energy and fun of their impeccable live shows into the album, Howard City. Recommended for cocktail parties and drives to the supermarket.
Check out our pictures of Vigilantes
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