There is more than a passing resemblance to Morrissey in the expressively pained vocals of Little Vegas Lies’ frontman Simon Moore. One wonders if the Dewsbury five-piece are fans of The Smiths and their brand of contemplative, heartfelt melancholia, though the comparison is not unfavourable; the first release from their debut EP ‘A Truth Not Far Away’, ‘My Ghost Town‘, strikes just the right balance between melody and rock, without sounding tame. The single, released next month (July 4), features very little production, with Moore’s words and a twinkling guitar carrying the song, rhythmic clangs of cymbals in the background creating a sound somewhat akin to Scottish outfit The Twilight Sad.
Opening track ‘Slip Away’ shows the band beating a different path, with low-fi, scratchy production behind Moore’s punchy vocals, and a dynamic that’s more indie than angsty. The songwriting itself is refreshingly understated, without that usual faux-gusto that many new bands unintentionally affect; Little Vegas Lies, right off the bat, sound assured of themselves, unafraid of harnessing some obvious influences to forge a sound genuinely quite unique.
Second track ‘Calling’ channels Interpol, and sounds like the kind of foot stamp-inducing effort that should serve to build LVL’s bedrock live following – a song more suited to the cavernous enclave of a club venue or ramshackle pub, but one that still packs pulsing power in disc form. Toward the end of the song, the guitars – bass and electric – fuse to a gut-clenching crescendo, showing the band can rise from quiet confidence to outright statements of intent.
The EP’s closing track, ‘All You Need‘, is an almost jazzy number, with Steve McNamara on guitar happy to introduce some nice, Stones Roses-esque effects to give the song a headspinning fusion between 60’s psychedelic and shoegazing simplicity; one almost expects the video to be a spacy affair, the kind of cut and paste snapshots typical of early Happy Mondays videos.
Though the band are less unpredictable than those acid house casualties, what they lack in snarling spontaneity they more than make up for with a spirited expansiveness and relentlessly catchy pop sensibilities (think Nirvana’s quiet/loud dynamic and you’re in the ballpark). It is difficult, indeed, to consider that the group have only been together since May 2010; one wonders what they can achieve given more time to gel. “Say you want it all, but you don’t know what you got,” sings Moore, though it’s pretty clear what we have here – a confident young band going places, and fast.
(Ronnie McCluskey)
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