4 out of 5

Label: Black Sheep Records

Produced by: Neil Kennedy and Daly George (recorded by)

So you know we all have the best taste, right? Like – we all know what’s up, individually, and then look awry at others when they say they know what’s up. And I recognize that I’m not the only one with a large wealth of instrumental indie / hardcore rock in my collection; I’m also guilty of comparing a lot of those bands to a few standouts in the genre, bands which are undoubtedly important in shaping my tastes and are comparisons for me because I discovered them early on – hence the shaping, and thus why they ultimately become the comparison point.

That said: I don’t listen to Don Cab all that match anymore; and I don’t know that I’ve gotten the same rush from any Pelican album as I did their first EP. They can still be comparisons, but also – I think some folks have arguably done what they did better, and maybe more consistently than those groups; also, Don Cab were indebted to oddballs poking around the indie and art scenes, just as Pelican were certainly influenced by hardcore stalwarts like ISIS and the like.

With all of that background established, I think it’s clear I do have the best taste, though, and y’all really need to start listening to more instrumental bands, because VASA really don’t sound exactly like a lot else out there (excepting, maybe, the 100s of bands doing their similar thing which I haven’t heard, but give me some time to hear them and wrap them into my preamble as well).

‘Colours’ is a perfect name for this bright burst of punky instrumentals, fitted with a splash of flat blue, pink and yellow on its cover – chaotic, but with control. Coming at us by way of Glasgow, VASA’s energetic burst of double guitar, bass, and drums interplay has the mathy complexity of Dischord rockers, but with a kind of sparkled poppiness that calls out to Seattle indie, or Kill Rock Stars pop, the former inheriting some of that same DC spirit and funneling it into something a bit more jaded – see Minus the Bear – and the latter hard-edged and sincere about it. VASA does the funny-song-title thing ever so slightly, but they rock earnestly as fuck, verging on video game endless-runner momentum with the awareness of needing to break things up with some epic breakdowns (‘Fat Ronaldo,’ ‘The Angry Dome’) or the occasional interstitial moment. There is a kind of high-on-the-fretboard noodling that forms the backbone for a few tracks, making passages of them interchangeable to a degree, but the band’s sequencing helps to make that feels mostly by design – even if you can’t necessarily name one track from another, the album flows effortlessly from song to song, with memorable moments frequently focusing the listen throughout.

This throughline between complex and accessible, heavy but catchy, creates a very recognizable and addictive sound that, as mentioned, matches the expressiveness of its artwork, and is the kind of instrumental rock record I crave: one that makes me forego references except as a starting point, and the desire to make sure as many more people hear this album as a I can.