2 out of 5

Label: Vx Records

Producer: Jacknife Lee (track 1), Vaux (2-3), Magnuss (4)

Rating this based more on value of the tracks combined, as my opinion of Vaux and their output is rather high.

“Are You With Me” was a fair enough attempt by VAUX to work their sound into a single, at the album’s worth of material around it was a good direction for their music to take to reach a wider audience while maintaining their edge.  However, it does reek of single – a recognizable chorus, the drums and guitar electronically stripped of edges to allow for easy radio play, and vague enough lyrical content that can be matched to its title to either be angry or rebellious or supportive or whatever.  It’s not a great track but it works depending on your headphones (some good stuff is mixed in there) and your mood, and whatever, it’s the single so it has to be on this disc, yeah?

“lions and LIONS” is a great track that finds a middle ground between the digital manic sound of the Plague Music EP and the more poetic and thematic “Beyond Virtue” album, thus not really being a great fit for either record and ending up as a B-side here.  The flip-flop of the lyrical content (in terms of morphing the intention of the words) is some of the band’s best, and the bursts of guitar and vocal insanity are great reminders of the power the band builds to at its most intense moments.

“In a Dark Room” is of the acoustic fare, similar to some of those kinder, gentler moments (hawomp) on “Virtue,” but lyrically and musically it states its intention from the get-go, despite some Black Heart Procession-esque tinkling sound effects, and so it doesn’t really build to anything effective.  Understandable as a B-side.

Then we get to our requisite fucking remix.  I don’t mean to spit on people who make a living out of remixes for CD singles, but I’ve never understood them.  While “Magnuss” has some good ideas in stripping the chorus down to just a beat and vocal and bringing some of the background elements up to the fore, it’s still just a pointless remix, one that wouldn’t exist if not commissioned for a single.  And using some of the yelps as an extra beat sounds sort of silly.

So there you have it – a bum of a remix, a not-amounts-to-much soft track, one awesome track, and then the single itself.  Yayyy