CD Reviews

Vietnam

Vietnam | Kemado

By FRANKLIN SOULTS | January 29, 2007

2.5 Stars

“We just wanted a name that had power,” says co-founder Michael Gerner in Rolling Stone. “I grew up as a military brat, and ‘Vietnam’ was a bad word.” Then why not go super bad with the fresh rot of “Fallujah” or “Bora Bora”? Like hirsute hotties from My Morning Jacket to Kings of Leon, these four vagabond hairheads prefer to recall an era when the establishment considered turning on and dropping out a sociopolitical threat. At times Gerner’s affected vocals and the band’s recycled blues rock are derivative of Blonde on Blonde–era Dylan; at others the quartet almost live up to Loaded-era Velvets, especially on “Summer in the City,” a nasty requiem for an OD who was “a pretty good lay/At least that’s what they say.” Except that whereas Uncle Lou always delivered his misanthropic decadence from an alienated distance, these miscreants undercut themselves by laying on strings, horns, or electric organ as the singer builds to an old-school wail like a cynical, deadbeat Joe Cocker. Although this long-heralded debut moves smoothly between slow-building rockers and quick sing-alongs, by the end all the bad vibes (and worse poetry) make you hope the band meet some burly old vets at the methadone clinic.

Related: Vietnam, Noise in the hood, Health of a nation, More

Vietnam
Those wily folks in the Vice A&R department were the first to pick up on the potential of, yes, yet another Brooklyn-based outfit, VietNam.
Noise in the hood
A knowing sense of humor emerged between songs, legitimizing the chicanery as mere friendly artistic expression.
Health of a nation
Let's just forget about all these dog and pony health care "forums" and face some facts. First and foremost, the main (and, perhaps, only) debate is this: Do you believe that health should be subject to the marketplace?
Chinnock of the North
How did I not know that Bill Chinnock was Dick Curless’s son in law?
The Funn(k)y Drummer
Johnny Carson was revered for his impeccable comic timing. It was "so precise," wrote one newspaper in his obituary, "that we wouldn't be surprised to find buried in his skull a quartz crystal." And why might that be? Perhaps because Johnny Carson was a drummer. In drumming, after all, timing is everything.
Making it right
Whatever increments of recovery New Orleans has made since Hurricane Katrina, in many ways the city never changes. The only shocker was a lower-left-hand piece, "Crime is down sharply in N.O."
Here comes the Whambulance
The Baltimore loft once known as Wham City is long dead, its inhabitants evicted in 2007, but the twisted DIY art movement it housed has flourished nonetheless.
Sax machines
In our guitar-centric culture it’s easy to forget that the first rock-and-roll instrument was the saxophone. Deric Dyer, "I've Got to Use My Imagination" (mp3) Paul Ahlstrand, "Sunday Hang" (mp3)
Multi-faceted
How we think about making and consuming music is changing. It is not news that labels, albums, and record stores are dying, pushed aside by new ways of conducting the commerce of music. (Though at the turn of the 20th century the song was king and the trade was in sheet-music publishing rights, so maybe this is all a return to form, just with new technology.)
Decades and Days of the new
After the bombast of Grace , Gypsy Tailwind’s sophomore record, full of strings and horns and big arrangements worthy of a Nashville studio, the opening to their brand-new Decades and Days seems decidedly intentional.
Going on sale: April 11, 2008
The Raconteurs, the Spill Canvas, Radiohead, and more.
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Topics: CD Reviews , Joe Cocker, Vietnam, My Morning Jacket, More

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