Artist: Viva Voce
Label: Pias Records
Release: 2006
Viva Voce, in other words married couple Anita and Kevin Robinson, have swung between all sorts of musical genres throughout their active career, which boasts three albums so far. So it’s no surprise that on this fourth outing, titled Get Yr Blood Sucked Out, they’ve once again set off on a trip through different musical forms. This time around, though, songs in the style of pop ditties, or radio-friendly tunes (done the Viva Voce way, of course), are in a clear minority. Instead, they’ve dug in properly to the very genres they only shyly flirted with on earlier albums.
Get Yr Blood Sucked Out is full of somewhat heavier rhythms and plenty of psychedelic melodies, obviously inspired by seventies rock. All of it is done the Viva Voce way, of course, meaning that while some songs may sound pop, others may sound almost like stoner rock, but always bent to their own rules, if they even have any.
A rough description of this music would be a mix of Led Zeppelin-style theory and Sonic Youth practice, with Mamas & Papas buried somewhere deep in the subconscious. A more precise analysis would, at best, only confirm that description, but let’s not indulge in dancing about architecture now, as some sage once said, who likewise throws all sorts of (musical) substances into his music and likewise cooks up a kind of eclectic mixture for more open and receptive ears.
And the eclectic mixture on this album is quite something. It’s actually remarkable that the album manages to stay on its feet and doesn’t collapse under the weight of its own almost schizophrenic variety. So many different ideas come flying in from every direction, usually at the exact same moment. Yet the album not only keeps up a steady stride, at times it even seems to run around light-heartedly and carefree, like a child unwittingly soaking up impressions of everything it meets on some kind of magical journey, not knowing that they’re shaping its own half-formed personality, with which it will one day spread influence and wisdom around the world, and in its own way give back to the world what it received from it. And it keeps receiving, because the circle never ends. And with Get Yr Blood Sucked Out, Viva Voce are one step deeper into this eternal cycle, which anyone can plug into at any time, entirely of their own free will, and Anita and Kevin ask for nothing in return. Maybe just a drop of blood.
Line-up
Anita Robinson: Vocals, electric guitar, bass (#2,9,10,12), percussion, baritone guitar
Kevin Robinson: Vocals, drums, bass (#1,3,4,6,7,11), harmonica, singing saw, piano, keyboards, percussion, acoustic guitar, roto-toms
Guest musicians:
Seth Lorinczi: hands on extra piano octave (#12), double bass (#5)
Kim Baxter: vocals (#7), hand claps (#1,3,9)
Cory Gary: Trumpet (#6)
Production
Viva Voce
Tracklist
01. Believer
02. When Planets Collide
03. From The Devil Himself
04. Drown Them Out
05. Bill Bixby
06. So Many Miles
07. We Do Not Fuck Around
08. Faster Than A Dead Horse
09. Special Thing
10. Never Be Like Yesterday
11. Helicopter
12. How To Nurse A Bruised Ego
Album length: 51:34
