Vitamins - No Notion of Anything Only Whatever Is What 7" (Hot Congress, 2011)

Tweet

The relighting of krautrock has been professed in various ways and provided in many different flavors. Mogwai's recent imbuement of the genre's signature static rhythms and progressive compositions coupled with their own appetite for melancholy on Hardcore Will Never Die made for a captivating and altogether diverse approach; my enthusiasm toward Hammer of Hathor's Vroom-Psycho was also a direct correlation to my affection for krautrock architects Neu! Denver quartet Vitamins don't quite dim the genre like Mogwai, nor do they channel their inspirations as broadly as Hammer of Hathor. Vitamins, however, attain a facet to claim their own.

In fact, Vitamins' penchant for tightly wound grooves and expansive builds is much more subtle than what bloggers postulate. One must look no further than the A side "No Notion of Anything Only Whatever Is What" to gather that the band's sound is relatively modern. Constant drums snake their way through coruscant synthesizers, chugging bass, and bouncing major-chord melodies as frontwoman Lizzy's vocals reverberate above the tense jam. "Tense," because the sounds generating underneath the instruments seem incredibly alien, yet "No Notion" remains to sound vivacious and bubbly.

On the flip-side, "The Disappearance of David Lee Powell" is the dirge to counter the single's sugar-coated onslaught. Here, the group retains the format of its predecessor, yet paces itself slowly. With progression, raucous sound effects create further disorientation, bringing light to Vitamins' psychedelic rock connections. Though not as uptempo, the crescendos never leave their climactic and powerful capabilities astray.

Vitamins' sophomore release paints a brief yet well-established image of a band with the quirks and eccentricity to accommodate their equally diverse and consistent songwriting. The A and B sides are dressed similarly, though remain completely different animals. If this equilibrium between consistency and divergence follows the quartet to a full-length capacity, it's unmistakable that plenty of praise will follow them as well.



[Vitamins Myspace]
[Buy the No Notion of Anything Only Whatever Is What 7" from Hot Congress]