The Lost Vegas – ‘Life Before The Collapse’ Vinyl Review

It may well be axiomatic to state that certain types of music suit vinyl better than others. I have a wide and varied collection slowly encroaching upon the living space in my house, and of that collection the music that works best is the warm, analogue sound of traditional rock and the soul-sapping, horrendous sound of vintage black metal and doom while the studio-polished music of bands such as Red harvest sounds better within the more clinical confines of the CD.

It is into the former category that The Lost Vegas slot with their psychedelic, blissed-out tones perfectly suited to the crackle and groove of vinyl. Referencing ‘Piper…’ era Pink Floyd, the oddball indie of the Flaming lips and even a touch of Sonic Youth, The Lost Vegas are worth quoting directly when trying to review this album: “back in 2011, before the great social and economic upheaval had descended upon the United States, a psychedelic rock band called the Lost Vegas presented an unvarnished portrait of the years of oblivious acquiescence that preceded the cataclysm.” The result is an album that sparks with energy and fizzes with invention, from the joyful ‘mosaic’ to the rattling art-blues hum of ‘Ellie D’ ‘Life before the collapse’ is an absolute joy to listen to and so utterly divorced from the more cynical material we’re used to at SonicAbuse that it was hard not to fall instantly in love with it. The fact that it appeared on vinyl complete with a rather nice 16×24 poster of artwork made it all the better and collectors will go a bundle on this exclusive–to-vinyl release which greatly benefits from a classy mastering job courtesy of the mighty Steve Hall (known for his work on artists ranging from Alice in Chains to Blondie) and cover art that recalls The Doors and feels instantly iconic despite the band’s relative obscurity.

The success of ‘Life before the collapse’ lies partially in the fact that The Lost Vegas successfully draw upon their influences to sound subtly different on every track without sounding incoherent and although the recordings are taken from a variety of sources, the album never feels anything less than a complete work. First track (the brief ‘intro’) swells nicely with bluesy, Gilmour-esque guitar and drums presented wrapped in a lo-fi production that perfectly matches the record’s natural crackle. The abrupt ending still surprises after several listens but then you’re straight into the beautiful ‘mosaic’ which sees vocal harmonies and the sort of sunny melody that is as irrepressible as it is joyful. Like a hot summers day filled with friends and laughter, it is the sort of glorious pop music that would have had a following of millions in the seventies, and it feels as if the musicians had a blast recording the track and it’s hard not to feel a little saddened when it draws to its conclusion. Happily ‘peace madonna’ follows hard on its heels with a sleazy, QOTSA groove mired in distortion and reverb that segues straight into ‘baby, you’re a rich man’ – another joyful, high-pitched vocal track that feels like Dinosaur Jr covering early Flaming lip. It makes you realise quite how backward looking a lot of the major US indie acts were in the 90s and it also shows just how timeless true rock and roll is, with the music here sounding as if it could have been recorded any time in the last forty years and yet still sounding fresh and unforced.

Changing tack from the sunny-pyschedlia of the first few tracks, ‘Ellie D’ is a slamming blues-rock blast that could have comfortably featured on any of the Blast First-era Sonic Youth CDs, especially as the vocals sound eerily like Lee Ronaldo, and the guitars rattle and hum with gay abandon, concerned far more with feel and power than tuning or precision.  The final track on side 1 is the comparatively dark ‘Goldmine’ which uses piano and minor-key atmospherics and ends up sounding like Death in Vegas’ collaboration with Bobby Gillespie on ‘the contino sessions’ album before heading into odd-ball rap territory. On paper (reading that back) it doesn’t sound that good, but please believe me when I say that that is largely down to my inability to accurately describe the myriad ideas that the Lost Vegas incorporate in the average song and not any failing on their part.

Side 2 opens with ‘spinning and falling’ – an acoustic track that has elements of Black Rebel motorcycle Club and Arcade Fire in its ragged melody and melancholy feel. ‘Mexican interlude’ is another track that surfs along on an over-loaded guitar riff while the bouncing rhythm track and frenetic vocals are somewhere between ‘Goo’-era Sonic Youth and the Beastie Boys if you can get your head around that mind-bending combination. Oh and it’s also awesome – possibly my favourite track on the album and totally insane. ‘Biscuit’ is sort of indie-punk – the kind of thing that Sebadoh did so well, only with a blues edge and a touch of Pixies surf rock thrown in for good measure but what really hits home aren’t the references but the energy that pours out of the record as guitars get mangled and drums get smashed into dust. ‘Fog’ challenges expectations still further by introducing the shimmering synths of Depeche Mode and then burying them under layers of distorted guitar with the result being that the track sounds like a guitarist jamming out his frustration after becoming trapped with his gear in a lift playing muzak… or maybe that’s just my own fevered imagination responding to the band’s imaginative take on rock music. ‘D-thing’ sees the band bounce back to the sunnier pastures of the first side – this time playing a basic rock melody but with complex vocal arrangements over the top recalling both Sonic Youth and REM at their crunchy, ‘Monster’ peak, and leading you by the hand to closing statement ‘Psyhedelos’ which sounds like Dick Dale on steroids.

Over this review you will have noticed endless references to bands such as sonic youth, the Pixies, Rem, Dinosaur Jr and the like. Certainly The Lost Vegas have the crazed creativity and energy of those acts but really they are just reference points for a band that have no need of pigeon-holing and no clear precursor. They are simply a great, invigorating and original rock ‘n’ roll band who delight in playing music, seemingly for the simple joy of the act and the album is a pleasure from its opening bars to its closing, distortion-laden notes. They may well never become huge; they surely will develop (and greatly deserve) a rabid fan base who follow them to each and every venue that they play in and certainly I’ll be eagerly awaiting the next release whilst grinding this particular slab of vinyl into so much dust in the process.

To hear a track and see the vinyl in all its glory head on over to Youtube here and feast your ears…