Vagiant – ‘Gospel According To Vagiant’ EP Review

In some far off lunatic asylum this probably seemed like a good idea. Take the instrument trashing sound collages of Sonic Youth, throw in the virulent punk sensibilities of refused, some offbeat pop-friendly-hooks, wrap it all up in awkward jazzy time signatures  and call it Vagiant. Actually, it is a damn good idea and the resultant EP from these most contrary of Russian noiseniks is a beautifully off-the-wall little gem that just happens to come clothed in some stunning artwork to top it all off.

A five track EP, only seventeen minutes in length, ‘the gospel according to vagiant’ is one of those records that grabs you from the off and does not let go until the last chord has been wrung from some poor, tortured guitar. The briefest of intros in the form of ‘welcome’ sees 37 seconds of reverberating voices speaking in Russian before we are slammed straight into the chaotic sonic blasts of ‘origins of man’, which sees the band raging away in Sonic Youth/Fugazi mode, the guitars fizzing away of a cacophonous backdrop of primitive Stooges drums and distorted bass. It’s punk in the truest sense of the word, anti-establishment and in thrall to the sheer sweaty energy and distorted passions of the five musicians involved. Oh and the chorus sounds like the breeders. Yeah, I struggled with that one too. ‘Eternal quest for endless beauty’ swaps out the straight forward punk approach for some impossibly awkward timings and a stop start approach that’s one part refused, one part Botch, one part Dillinger escape plan all filtered through a beautifully disrespectful production job that sounds as if it’d melt protools if it came within a thousand yards of it. Oh and there’s an awesome solo that may belong to another song… or not, but it’s cool… as is ‘how bad is your karma’ which is what would happen if you distilled the brainwaves of Deep Purple and force-fed them to Botch at a Hives concert. It’s confusing, inspiring, gloriously unhinged and either tighter than a pair of spandex underpants or sloppier than a 47 cheese pizza – we haven’t quite worked it out yet. The final track – ‘molerats’ is possibly all of the above listed things only with a slowed-down beginning that somehow recalls Sonic Youth’s evergreen classic ‘dirty boots’ right up to the point the echoing guitar is subverted by a Lydia Lunch vocal line and droning stoner take on Deus covering Helmet.

It’s hard to know exactly what to say except for screaming over and over again that this is freaking awesome! This is the sort of release that if I were younger I’d be busily parading around friends’ houses forcing them to buy it (or at least listen to it), in fact I may do that anyway in the hope that I can corrupt at least one of them with the brilliantly conceived and played songs this EP contains. Available at http://vagiantownsyourmom.bandcamp.com/ with the possibility of naming your own price (no minimum) there is absolutely no excuse not to check this release out and if you don’t do so this very instant you will surely burn forever in the fires of an eternal Celine Dion concert… now away with you – this EP awaits your immediate attention.