ECCA VANDAL – LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO UNFOLLOW

Some things you just don’t expect to see, find, or hear because you may have just left it for the internet and social media. There’s been an incredibly wide range, a vast array of artistry coming from the ‘net, where many call home and have no need to any other forms of publicity. It’s been this way for a few years now, and many have found their fanbase(s) utilizing things other than standard forms of media, record labels, etc.

While the Sri Lankan, South African by way of Australia’s Ecca Vandal has utilized both, my first encounter was online. Clips of her videos streamed through, stormy tracks filled with energy and sheer abandon. Knowing close to nothing about Vandal, aside from an earlier album released back in 2017 which still showed a healthy dose of aggression through her backdrops. But Vandal’s voice was more pronounced, although it made for quite an interesting full-length debut filled with technical savvy and bursting with creativity. But that was almost a decade ago, and now Ecca Vandal returns with Looking For People To Unfollow (Loma Vista Recordings), with its tongue-in-cheek album title and a sure-shot collection of tracks that holds nothing back. “Eyes Shut” bombards the senses with a thundering rhythm with over-the-top walls of guitar, which changes dynamics but can’t hide the fact Vandal creates interesting vocal melodies. It’s a noisy sound clash Vandal breathes life into. It’s her imagination brought to life. Throughout the years, it’s obvious Vandal has changed up her vocal delivery and it fits the musical style delivered here. “Molly” for instance, a wash of guitars, driven with a melody drenched in Vandal’s gruff voice but holding those key notes. Then there’s a shift, and it’s filled with a delicate sweetness.

There’s also the ability Vandal holds, the ability to draw out powerhouse tracks soaked with catchy melodies, radio-ready, and I wouldn’t be mad at it. “Cruising To Self Soothe” may draw from her own ability to keep her mental health straight, but she handles it here with heavy guitar chords drawing strength from the earth itself. Yeah, she’s grounded in so many ways, knowing when to move forward with or without friends. If there was ever a hit in Vandal’s repertoire, this would be it and I’m not mad at it. It has everything you’d expect from a heavy hitter. But there’s also another side to the musical stylings of Ecca Vandal and it comes across distinctively on “Okay Not To Be Okay.”Driven by what sounds like a mechanical beat, along with low-end keyboard notes leading the way, as Vandal sings softly across the softer notes and explodes through the chorus, but it isn’t overbearing or drastic. The song in its entirety has a saccharine savoriness. It doesn’t prepare you for “Levitate Part 1 +2,” which has Vandal, at times, cooing softly across a musical background more in common with nu-soul than the heaviness she’s drawn much of her inspiration from. In either case, it’s a welcome fit for her in any regard.

Ecca Vandal is a chameleon of sorts, whose learned to utilize her skills to for just about any situation. Looking For People To Unfollow, has elements of everything that has influenced her: rock, R&B, Soul, Hip-Hop, it’s all here. It’s also Vandal’s ability to fit into any genre she chooses to and make it her own. There’s no posturing, just a musical talent who created an album with no fucks given.

CRITERIA – SEIZE!

In relation to music, time can sometimes be… interesting. Occasionally, there’s no rhyme or reason as to when something will see the light of day, while at the same time, you’ll have someone spitting out recordings as if their life depended on it. With the advent of social media, it may not even matter anymore with creatives sharing video imagery monthly, weekly, and sometimes, even daily. We’re bombarded from the onset with things we may not even need or want to see.

Criteria; now that’s an odd duck. The Omaha, Nebraska outfit had its start back in 200e, releasing two albums and then everything went silent until the release of the band’s 2020 release Years. While yes, former Cursive/White Octave guitarist/vocalist Stephen Pedersen is a member of the group and is an integral part of the band’s sound, we should look at the band in its entirety instead of focusing on one member. Criteria just released its new album SIEZE! (Spartan Records) and it’s probably much different than what you may think it is. Rounding out the band are a bunch of familiar faces A.J. Mogis on bass, Aaron Druery on guitar and Mike Sweeney on drums. Despite having a 15 and 6 year gap between album releases SIEZE! is larger than life although the band might come across as unassuming.

From track to track, the band pulls infectious melodies from instruments, which does includes Pedersen’s vocals. Guitars are bound together, while the rhythm section delivers its sturdy foundation, never missing a step, keeping the bounce tightly wound against those splattering guitar melodies. It’s interesting the way the band ties its instruments around one another, never overcompensating with distortion, and allowing everything to make sense with ease. That’s probably the group’s greatest appeal and, if I may, use “I Am The Son” as an example. It’s eloquence in delivery, like much of this release, is a grandiose display. The band isn’t afraid to utilize what it has, and that’s what sets the group apart from its contemporaries. The music may be played for an audience of 40 but it’s made for an audience of 40,000. It’s captivating just in that way. Pedersen’s words might be the antithesis for the cathartic. For a rock band, it might not be cool to sing about familial love but he makes it all the more endearing. Singing about how he is “the son of an immigrant’s daughter” but its “And that’s the way, that’s the way we ought to live/intentional, with grace and love and empathy/we ought to love, we ought to love each other like my mother loved the ones around her…” that’s truly moving, and everything meshes together well.

The band hits its mark at just about every point, and it’s no different with “I Am The End,” as the members seemingly move in unison. Dual dueling guitars open with a distinctive melody right before bass & drums collide with them and create a powerful rhythm all around. The wording around Pedersen’s lyricism is quite clever, almost as if he’s creating a double entendre between love & death and love & life, but when the “love runs dry,” what’s left? But it’s the music, the gotdamn(!) music. The band strikes with an unwavering force… It’s a force of nature itself. This isn’t hyperbole, it’s factual. There aren’t any extended flashy solos, but Criteria still pieces together its electrifying chording and rhythm with stunning effect. “Embrace The Strange” builds around a simple rhythm, which turns into a song of bestial proportions as guitars flail across that rhythm with guitar notes seeping in on occasion. Vocal harmonies bounce off one another, and while the song title suggests embracing the strange, they sing to “Embrace the change,” there’s only growth there.

SIEZE! is hopeful, rallying around positivity, which hasn’t been lost on me. But also, yeah, mentioned it earlier; Criteria does have a sound that’s larger than life and creates music that’ll be played in clubs but sonically, this album is made for stadiums. And that’s dope AF.