Released back in September 2018, Apogee, is the fourth album from the Danish alternative rock band Vinyl floor, a band for whom I have considerable respect and whose last outing, 2014’s excellent Vaudeville, still gets a fair degree of rotation some five years down the line. Drawing upon a typically eclectic range of influences, Apogee sees Vinyl floor explore hard rock, prog, indie, pop and even a touch of industrial on a darker album that is heavily influenced by the increasingly combative times in which we live. Produced by the band themselves, with the basic album recorded live in their own studio, Apogee sees the band adopt a lo-fi sound, which works perfectly on some songs, but detracts from the scope of others. That said, the admirable lack of post-performance processing means that Apogee is the most emotionally and sonically honest Vinyl Floor release to date.
Opening with Ivory tower it’s clear that Vinyl Floor are, once again, exploring a range of influences with typical disregard for any one stylistic form. With elements of Strangelove and the Cure, ivory tower sounds like a throw-back to mid-90s indie, but with elements of rock and industrial thrown into the melting pot in caser the listener find too much comfort in familiarity. Next up the Radiohead-meets-Weezer Follow me down takes a slacker vocal and grinding chorus and sweetens it with liquid slide guitar. One of the tracks that finds itself slightly hampered by the production, the boxy low-end is a misstep that detracts from an otherwise fine song. Nonetheless, the strength of the song-writing wins out and the climactic soloing is suitably epic. The tub-thumping intro to Blood looks good on you gives way to a more modern indie approach, the track sounding like a cross between breakthrough-era Snow Patrol and The Smiths, the bravely unedited vocal sounding al the more emotional for not having been processed into blandness. With a title that suggests the timeless insouciance of youth, Monday, etc. is another track that harks back to the blue album with its rough-hewn harmonies and Generation X guitar only barely covering the gorgeous pop melody that lies at the song’s heart. It leaves Cool swirl, cruel world to round out the album’s first half on a reflective tone that will find favour with fans of Pavement and their ilk.
Kicking off the second half of the album, Eye thing is another track that draws upon the sky-scraping sense of wonder that Snow Patrol injected into their early compositions before they became seduced by mainstream banality. In contrast, Acid and wine, has a mid-70s hard rock vibe that gives a fair indication of what might result from Wilko Johnson jamming with Sebadoh – the low-fi production working perfectly here as the band lay down a track that sounds like some long-lost treasure unearthed at a vinyl fair. Sticking to that rock ‘n’ roll vibe, Spoiled kids takes a falsetto vocal and trad-blues riff and spits it out in a manner that is both knowing and surprisingly engaging. Built around a riff of which The Hives would be proud, Tidal waves is a hulking, retro-rock throwback with a vocal that captures the rapidly-lost innocence of youth. The album’s final track is also its hardest rocking song, Black magic revealed. Built around a monstrous riff, it showcases Vinyl Floor at their most explosive and it brings this short, diverse album to a thrilling conclusion.
Vinyl floor remain an enigmatic and fascinating band. Never ones to stay stylistically still, they flit around genres, drawing upon those elements that fit a given song and the overall result is rather like sitting in a friend’s house as they rummage though their music collection, drawing different tracks from the pile for you to check out. Although this review frequently points to bands who fit the overall sound that Vinyl Floor approach, the reality is that they ultimately sound like no one so much as themselves – an increasingly rare commodity in the overcrowded world of music – and apogee is all the more special for it. 8.5
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