If you’re going to do something, as the saying goes, you should do it properly. The Lost Vegas understand this better than most and their last effort was a charming, beautifully presented, multi-faceted outing that left this reviewer struggling with the seemingly simple act of description and which has graced the SonicAbuse turntable on a number of occasions since. The album, ‘Life before the collapse’, was exactly what the title suggests – a snapshot of a happier time that resonates heavily, even in these disaffected times, and the music gleefully bought to mind everything from Husker Du to Nick Cave with its sun-dappled, psychedelic sound. It was a joyful, wonderful, varied record and it is, therefore, a pleasure to see the band have kept faith with their broadly optimistic sound to craft an album that not only complements, but possibly even surpasses, its predecessor.
However, before we explore the content, it is necessary to admire the overall package for once again The Lost Vegas have put a huge amount of effort into releasing an album that is as aesthetically pleasing as it is aurally glorious. Available, as before, on 180gm, rock-solid vinyl it comes housed in a beautiful gatefold sleeve featuring Sarina Valentina (last seen promoting ‘life before the collapse’) as photographed by Mallorie Nasrallah, as well as the complete lyrics for the disc on the inner cover. It’s a great cover, one that immediately captures the attention, and it’s been put together tastefully and with a knowing reference to the great album covers of the sixties and seventies (think Roxy Music or Jimi Hendrix), the vibrant colours of the rose on Ms Valentina’s lapel a striking metaphor for the musical wonders that lie within.
The first track, long legged glaciers’ sets the scene with its throbbing bass and jangling guitars building towards a sparse, Doors-esque arrangement that explodes into a thousand points of light as the guitars swirls and boil around the echoing vocals and you’re suddenly caught in the oncoming rush of a juggernaut, piloted by Syd Barrett and powered by John Bonham. It’s a great start to an album that then fades away into the Beach-Boys-meets-Low-meets-Dinosaur-Jnr pop rush of ‘Diamonds’ which is the sound of a road trip across the desert, the occupants of the fast moving vehicle still alive with hope and the belief that life will be better far, far away from whence they came. It’s a positive, blissful experience which is followed by ‘San Francisco’ an equally warm-hearted track that cruises on honeyed vocal harmonies and trebly guitars that hint at a twin love of the Pixies and the Breeders. Fuzzier, heavier and twisted by an overloaded sonic trip into the psychedelic realms of the LSD trip, ‘Los Angelenos’ is the Pixies covering Pink Floyd at a sea-side surf resort, the echoing percussion and barely coherent guitars collapsing in time for the up-beat ‘space song’ which sounds like Lee Ronaldo and Nick Cave jamming on Bob Dylan and Beck. It’s a heady, spacey journey that once again highlights The Lost Vegas’ singular skill at capturing the simple rush of standing on a promontory looking out over a city you’ve never before seen, and preparing for the colourful and exotic encounters you may have upon entering. The final track on side one is ‘the trip’, a hope-filled blast of fizzing guitars and tribal rhythms that leaves you with a dizzying sense of euphoria.
The second side opens with ‘paisley print’, one of two instrumentals on the second half of the album. It’s a short, gentle track that rolls blissfully out of the speakers, the guitars expressing emotions that run beyond words and then the band unveil the brilliant, bonkers, Eastern-European blues of ‘Svetska mamuna’ a track that sounds like a trip through the cellar bars of the Baltic states in the company of Nick Cave, where Vodka flows free and companionship is as simple as talking to the fellows near you. It’s brilliantly evocative track that summons the memories of light, love and laughter only for the mood to be irretrievably altered by the twisted psychosis of ‘Bolivia’ with its distorted percussion and moody undercurrent shot through with wailing guitars and tales of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance killed off in a hail of gunfire. ‘Old kid Coal’ is equally disturbed – as if all the hope and naivety of the first side has been subsumed by the knowledge of the world and it sinful ways and so the track mixes up sleazy, earthy melodies with punkish, fuzzed up guitars and a world-weary vocal which speaks of disillusionment and confusion. If ‘Bolivia’ and ‘Old kid Koal’ speak of disillusionment, then ‘Elopa’ with its odd, Fugazi-esque time signatures and barely-tuned guitars, speaks of defiance and hope in the face of adversity and the album ends on an upbeat note.
On ‘Crhyptnopsych’ The Lost Vegas have outdone their previous effort. Where the last record was musically brilliant, this one combines that brilliance with an overall ebb and flow that takes you on a trip around the odd-ball corners of the world. From the heady, sunny drive across America, into Europe and then into the depths of South America, the music fizzes and sparks with originality and invention and you can’t help but feel it’s a trip that you’ll want to take time and again. Although clearly linked to the psychedelic acts of the late sixties and early seventies, The Lost Vegas also share stylistic similarities with the alternative movement of the early nineties, but, as we noted before, the band are smart enough to source ideas from everywhere and nowhere, the end result being that The Lost Vegas sound exclusively like…. The Lost Vegas. Such uniqueness is rare and something to be cherished, and when you combine that with the time and effort taken to make their records look the part as well as sound great then you know that you’re onto something special indeed. In the band’s own words “The Lost Vegas bring another much needed reality experience to a corporate dehumanized zombie world.” It’s a bold task that The Lost Vegas have undertaken, but one in which they undoubtedly excel. Long live The Lost Vegas – the world needs bands like this and their next record cannot arrive too soon.
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