(Universal)

Follow-up to conceptual blues rock opus Oh We Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside

Melbourne’s The Vasco Era have always been on the artier end of the gritty indie blues rock spectrum, their previous album Oh We Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside a literate, autobiographical collection of tunes in which each musical narrative’s title begins with the word ‘When’. New album Lucille isn’t so rigid in the titling department and like its predecessor could conceivably divide audiences when it comes to the anguished vocals of singer/guitarist Sid O’Neil. For my money, however, he’s a massively improved vocalist on this record (though he is mixed a tad low in the anthemic Lost). His dramatic range resembles the epic scale of Arcade Fire’s Win Butler in the excellent opening song Not Stuck Here, while he’s a convincing garage rock howler in the Hammond-organ blur of title track Lucille. Oh Sam is a satisfying, Pixies-esque air puncher, while Casino chugs on the back of a saloon bar-meets-fuzz rock arrangement. The group flounders only very rarely (the somewhat directionless Rest My Head is one example), but for the most part Lucille is a charismatic and smart record with a feral flourish. 

***½  

MATT THROWER

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