vee device
Out of the Darkness
www.musicemissions.comAn ambitious folk/bluegrass project whose success is severely limited by bland songwriting, misplaced pretension and gratingly affected vocals. Out of the Darkness is a seventeen song concept album revolving around the great Northeast Blackout of 2003 which plunged millions of folks into sudden darkness (though not the Colorado based members of vee device apparently), and though it benefits from plenty of fleet-fingered bluegrass guitar and mandolin picking, it cannot overcome the hobbling effect of frontman Sam Ernst's wholly unconvincing vocal. Has a term been invented yet for that style of singing employed by the likes of Scott Stapp (Creed) and, to a lesser degree, Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20)? That odd drawl that seems to come not from any particular geographical location, but from some unfortunate vocal training mishap? It's a shame, because this is a fine idea for a song cycle, provided the lyrics weren't so ham-fisted and painfully dense or the melodies so instantly forgettable. Not surprisingly, the instrumental tracks here work far better than the vocal ones, sparing the listener Ernst's embarrassing tenor and the uninteresting harmonies. Inevitably, the band pledges to "fight against the tyranny of soulless music" on it's hilariously pompous website. Right - these guys play acoustic instruments (and can move their fingers real fast) so of course they're blessed with deep insights those teenyboppers just wouldn't understand. Get lost and take your crap folk/bluegrass/who-gives-a-damn with you.
Music Emissions -- Sunday, December 12, 2004
By Rusty Bidet