vee device - Autobiography Of A Dying Band
Current Winners Of The Best Kept Seceret Award
www.music-critic.caRating: 4.5/5
vee device, a three-piece based out of Colorado, has long been considered among the most exciting ‘underground’ bands in America, and with their latest release, Autobiography of A Dying Band, it’s easy to see what the hype is about. Autobiography of A Dying Band is a marathon of a record, clocking in at seventy-three minutes, and featuring twenty songs, vocal and instrumental, somber and uplifting, pessimistic and hopeful.
vee device is perhaps best described as acoustic alternative folk, and in keeping with the genre, the intellectual, charmingly grassroots storytelling and songwriting of the self-described ‘wayfarers’ is wonderful. For especially strong instrumentation, check out the Celtic influence of fiddle and mandolin on Sweepin’ the Chimney, the beautiful ambience of Culpability, and the jazz-folk of Wind Over Yokohama Bay, with its war commentary lyrics. Other lyrical gems include "The ghosts are in the field; the ghosts are in the glass. My pen lives wherever there’s space, and space will bring me past" (Ghosts In the Glass), and "Laura Lee, you can’t help everyone, you can’t help anyone you regret / You’ve swept aside, you’ve been abductalized by every single dream you’ve never met" (Abductalized). Sings vee: "So much for a life’s work; the years go in, reduced to a paragraph." But you know, this record is too big to contort into a single paragraph; it has to speak for itself. Packed with highlights, and with just enough surprises to keep you guessing no matter how often you hear it, Autobiography of a Dying Band is one of the most enjoyable and fascinating records to come along in years.
Music-Critic.ca -- Thursday, July 14, 2005
By David Coats