San Francisco – Viet Cong are a fantastic Canadian band whose illustrious eclecticism has torn a new one in the figurative behind of modern independent music. Their self-titled debut LP is one for the ages, and at just seven tracks long, its prowess is both defiant and terrifying.
The band consists of two former members of the Canadian outfit Women (vocalist/bassist Matt Flegel; drummer Mike Wallace), a band that dissolved following a very public disagreement and sudden tragic death. These two teamed up with guitarists Scott Munro and Dan Christiansen to form Viet Cong, and after releasing an EP in 2013, decided to go forth and write an entire album.
Viet Cong’s short, sub-40-minute debut is bursting with a healthy dose of understandable angst, though it’s not the sort of disruptive and heady unease one might expect from such an outfit; the sounds that Viet Cong cater to are much more inclusive and relatable than one would imagine. The album’s bleakly intriguing nature are realized in the first track, “Newspaper Spoons.” Flegel moans repeated rhythmic bursts of lyrics, blurting, “Writhing violence/Essentially without distortion/Wired silent/Vanishing into the boredom,” paired with droning heavy percussion.
Misty guitar riffs permeate “Pointless Existence,” carrying the general theme of relentless malaise into the inner depths of the album, and Flegel takes on a persona that is equivocated with the likes of Paul Banks of Interpol (with whom he shares a similar vocal timbre).
Aptly titled “March of Progress” starts out with the simple droning of semi-white noise, quickly followed by an erratic assortment of drumbeats meshed with lo-fi molasses-like tones that suddenly bloom into a glorious cacophony of unhinged vocals and an array of disconcertingly playful guitar riffs like a sort of crazed laughter that seems to mock the band’s very audience. It’s very rare that artists recognize their critics, let alone confront them head on; bravo to Viet Cong for assuming such a stalwart stance in defense of their vision.
The more obtuse “Bunker Buster” dabbles in a bridge-like manner between modern artistic indie rock and the nostalgia of the Goth rock of the ‘80s (think Joy Division and The Cure’s more esoteric songs). “Continental Shelf” screams the kind of austere glamour that bands like Deerhunter have reclaimed in the past several years.
“Silhouettes” serves not only as a fitting single for the album, but it also brings together a cornucopia of instrumental style that has the ability to speak to a fan of pretty much any kind of music. Again, Flegel’s vocals are deliberate and brusque, yet he executes them in a manner that is both welcoming and effective; with the flailing melancholy timbre attributed to vocalists like Ian Curtis and Paul Banks. Fiegel’s bass is matched with Wallace’s electric percussion and the colorful demi-dissonance offered by dueling guitar riffs put up by Munro and Christiansen. There is a little taste of some old-school sounding synths here that meritoriously place the listener at a delightful crossroads where past and present intersect.
The album ends with the eleven-minute opus entitled “Death,” which reads as a necessary expulsion of a multitude of emotions. The band Women ended so drastically that it seemed there may have been some unrealized emotions following their dissolution, but it feels like this song gets most of them out in the open where they belong. Every note that emanates from the speakers during this song seems to be dripping with a heavy load of unrequited sorrow and anger. Even the two guitarists—who were not previously entangled in Women’s web—paint a breathtaking sonic picture with the harsh absolution of each chord that is played. The song feels universally cleansing.
Viet Cong’s debut is heartbreaking, savage, and belligerent, but in all the best ways. The band has created such an expansive, engrossing and emotional body of work with this album, both lyrically and in terms of their instrumentation. This is an album that works on so many levels that it’s a little bit frightening. One can only imagine what they are going to be like as they embark on tour.
Viet Cong is now available via Jagjaguwar. They are currently on a very extensive tour throughout North America and Europe through the summer, with stops at plenty of festivals. All tour dates (including ticket information) can be found here. For more info, visit the band’s website. Also check out their BandCamp.
Corey Bell
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