SGG-017
Vaz – Chartreuse Bull LP
$15
(limited edition, screen printed jackets, free download included)
VAZ exist in a realm outside of any known comfort zone, operating off the grid and blasting straight through any and all trends with their eyes seemingly closed to the vapidness of it all. Hoisting the flag of creep-rock high above the heads of any who might challenge the throne with Chartreuse Bull, their leanest, meanest LP yet, it’s no wonder VAZ have outlived the space shuttle and any other fad you can think of.
Guitarist Paul Erickson and drummer Jeff Moordian launched this mission years ago with HAMMERHEAD and now, with the addition of Tyler Nolan, VAZ will continue to laugh as the satellites crash around their heads. Past VAZ efforts on Load, Thin The Herd, and GSL have hinted that the day will come when it’s time to board up the house and go underground, but Chartreuse Bull will have you running for the hammer and nails.
“Scum-pop blasters Vaz are a consistently underrated Brooklyn treasure…..11 charred burners as taut and ugly and secretly bubblegum as anything in their gotta-catch-em-all catalog. Their ill-tempered blast and squawk updates AmRep’s sinister sizzle for more extreme days, still teasing it with the boldest, brashest, shiniest hooks in the nu-pigfuck underground–think Queens Of The Stone Age getting a Pissed Jeans makeunder. Album highlight “Blockade” is two minutes of swinging-from-the-rafters grime-bluster that somehow lets Erickson’s ghostly melodies shine through some fairly merciless muck.” – Village Voice
“Not sure how we managed it, but this is the first we’ve heard from noise rock heavies Vaz, which is kind of weird for a couple reasons, one, this is their 3rd or 4th record so far at least, and those past records were on some seriously kick ass labels, and two, Vaz is in fact two members of the late great AmRep outfit Hammerhead, who we LOVED. But better late than never, and this is indeed a serious chunk of blown out super hooky and heavy noise rock, pop at its core for sure, but wrapped in some thick, crumbling ultra distorted riffage, not to mention some tripped out psychedelic guitar action, anchored by the drums, a wild chaotic pound, and the vocals, surprisingly melodic, which positions Vaz more alongside other poppier heavy rock combos like Torche, but Vaz definitely twists up their sound, atonal and off kilter, jagged and frenzied and frantic, sleeping easily from twisted crunch to soaring hookiness and back, with a definite brooding downer pop vibe running through some of the songs too. And some ridiculous hooks tucked amidst all that crunch and pound. We gave this a quick listen when it first came in, and thought it sounded pretty good, but when we finally sat down to really dig in, it quickly became a new fave, sounding suddenly like some impossible hybrid of Nomeansno, The Melvins and Torche, with a hint of the WipersÉ and we’ve been listening to it like crazy ever since, which pretty much says it all.
Killer stuff, and definitely recommended for fans of heavy pop and poppy heaviness. Packaged in swank silkscreened jackets, includes a free download as well. ” – aquariusrecords.org