In 1994, alongside the likes of Belly, Veruca Salt dropped the super-cool debut album ‘American Thighs’. An indie hit, it established the band in the alternative rock community, but the band’s ambitions were, from the start, somewhat loftier, and three years later the band hit the studio with none other than Bob Rock, the studio mastermind behind the ubiquitous ‘Black Album’. The result, ‘Eight arms to hold you’ was a massive rock beast that neatly established the fact that, not only did Veruca Salt rock, but they also had the nous to write catchy pop tunes that could chart whilst simultaneously blowing people’s ears off. They should have been huge, but, for reasons that remain undisclosed, the formidable partnership of Nina Gordon and Louise Post crumbled and Gordon left the band in 1998, leaving Veruca Salt to stumble on uncertainly, barely troubling fans this side of the pond. It seemed that the band were due to suffer the ignominious fate of quietly disbanding, only for the original line-up to announce a surprise reformation in 2013. The result is the astonishing ‘Ghost notes’. Released in 2015, we somehow missed it upon release, but, due to a vinyl copy arriving on our doorstep, thought we’d cover it now anyway because, quite simply, this is an album you should listen to.
Boasting an altered track-listing from the CD release, ‘Ghost notes’ comes as a double LP on green-swirl (disc 1) / white (disc 2) vinyl. The gatefold sleeve is sturdy and the coloured vinyl looks cool, but, unfortunately, like so much coloured vinyl the discs suffer from a substantial amount of surface noise. It’s not particularly distracting when the band are rocking out, but on quieter passages and between tracks it can get a touch distracting. We found the white vinyl to be worse, for some reason, but it would appear that a number of fans have reported similar issues. Happily, the set does come with an MP3 copy, so all is not lost.
Unlike the CD version, which opens with the blistering pop gem ‘the gospel according to saint me’, the vinyl opens with the short, and you will know us by the trail of dead-esque ‘prelude to Zeus’. It’s a strangely proggy opener and, although it seems a touch divorced from the generally brash content that follows, it offers a nice build up to ‘the gospel…l’, which is a raging pop gem that perfectly sets the tone of this joyful reunion with creeping bass, ACDC worshiping riffs and those twisted vocal harmonies that so elevated ‘eight arms..’ Sneaking into view, ‘black and blonde’ ditches a sweet little guitar figure in favour of a blazing riff that shows that Brad Wood is more than Bob Rock’s equal when it comes to coaxing suitably huge sounds out of the band. A perfect single if it wasnn’t bested by the effervescent ‘laughing in the sugar bowl’, ‘eyes on you’ concludes the first side with a stuttering guitar line that somehow manages to pull off the trick of sounding contemporary whilst still remaining firmly footed in the 90s.
Side two kicks off with the slow, simmering ‘prince of Wales’ which takes its time to build into a melodic hurricane of sound before the band head off into ‘Benjamin’ territory with ‘the sound of leaving’, a song that is shot through with heartbreak and amazing pop melodies. ‘Love you less’ also recalls an ‘eight arms…’ track (‘loneliness is worse’) with its stabbing guitars and deceptively coy vocals. It’s a good track, but pretty much everything no side two is eclipsed by the absolutely brilliant two minute blast of ‘laughing in the sugar bowl’, a track that celebrates the band’s reunion with such joy that it’s impossible not to feel elated just listening to it.
Having ended on a massive, sugar-rush high, side three threatens to dip in quality, only for the band to absolutely blow off the barn doors with ‘empty bottle’, a track that starts quiet but which builds to a raging tsunami of a chorus that had me dancing about the room in ecstasy. Singing ‘bang bang my head against a wall of sound’ Nina and Louise capture the immense joy that can come from being part of a band all rocking out in unison with a primal scream that makes the heart blaze from the warmth they generate. ‘Come clean, dark thing’ is no less impressive, drawing a line in the musical sand that lies somewhere between Joan Jett and Belly. Hints of the band’s indie origins are present in ‘I’m telling you now’ whilst ‘triage’ ends the side with the sort of riffs that set stadiums alight.
The final side kicks off with the sweet ‘lost to me’, a minor key pop-rocker that builds beautifully. A vinyl exclusive, ‘into the sun’ is up next keeping the tempo racing until we hit up against the electronic drums and stripped-back intro of the short ‘The museum of broken relationships’. The CD ends with ‘Alternica’, a neat successor to the awesome ‘earthcrosser’ from ‘eight arms…’ Similarly paced, it juxtaposes gentle verses against the huge crashing chords of the chorus. It’s a fitting end to the album, as the band sing us out with “and in the end it comes around, comes around again”. A vinyl only coda adds little that hasn’t already been said, although it helps to tie up the more proggy theme kicked off with ‘prelude to Zeus’, but really it’s the massed strings, giant chords and life-affirming crescendo of ‘Alternica’ that will sit in the mind long after the turntable has stopped.
We missed ‘ghost notes’ when it appeared last year. That was our loss, for it is a wonderful album, but, if you’ve not already heard it, don’t make the same mistake. Veruca Salt have made a record that perfectly encapsulates the joy and passion that is part of being in a band and ‘ghost notes’ is a wonderful celebration of the renewed friendship that lies at the core of the band. After two days of heavy repeat, I can say that this album is easily the equal of the stunning ‘eight arms…’ (which is not to diminish the band’s output post that album, but it does remain a peak) and a near perfect balance of pop and rock that will keep you jumping and singing for days on end.
9.0
