Day Nineteen Bonus Track(s): Bad Veins - "Falling Tide" b/w "The Lie"

Dovecote Records ■ DCR 0012/DCR 0011

Released: ??, 2007

Produced by Bad Veins, Justin Baily, Daron Hollowell and Jonathan Fuller

Engineered by Justin Bailey and Johnathan Fuller

Mastered by Steve Girton

A-Side: Falling Tide	B-Side: The Lie

On my previous blog, I had a single poll, really, and it was to narrow the direction of my planned listening, in a more general and randomized sense than the ones I kept here. I matched Wire, the Skids, Dinosaur Jr, Slade and Bad Veins--a pretty weird blend overall, even if all of them are or were rock in some form or other. Dinosaur Jr ended up winning, probably indicative of the people I know. Bad Veins did reasonably well, and I knew at least one person who put in a bote there. I knew the same for Slade, for that matter. I never got around to writing about any of them but Dinosaur Jr (who won)--I just felt too overwhelmed by the volume of material, especially as compared to what I felt like I knew.

As time has gone on, Bad Veins has remained the most "limited"--they've released 2 albums and not much more. They were floating around the "legitimately" indie scene (in the sense of limited distribution, low-fame, independent in actual senses of divorce from industry clout) even when I saw them live. They opened for We Were Promised Jetpacks, who I saw completely on a lark, having forgotten the show was even occurring at the time. I ended up having hard cider for the first time (on the recommendation of a friend--via text, no less), but wandered in for the latter half of Bad Veins' set. I normally show up at concerts at door time, or even sooner. This time, because it was so delayed (not to mention a venue I had never been to or even seen), I was a lot later though.

When I looked up at the stage, I saw two guys in pseudo-military dress with a podium and a reel-to-reel tape player, a rotary phone receiver attached to the microphone stand (leading to its base attached to the podium) and a covering of seeming wallpaper on that podium. One was manning drums, the other at the mic and playing guitar. It was an odd sight, to be sure. That this was the band opening for the post rock-inflected Scots who I knew as openers for The Twilight Sad (who I knew as openers for Mogwai) would have left me confused if the band who preceded We Were Promised Jetpacks when they opened for the Twilight Sad wasn't Brakes, the English pop/rock band. Still, these were Americans, so I was left a bit confused all the same.

It wasn't long before the strains of Bad Veins infected me at the show, though. It was catchy stuff, and the "gimmicks" didn't feel gimmicky so much as creative and vaguely quirky--the telephone was used to distort Benjamin Davis's vocals much like megaphones are used (and, indeed, he used one of those, too). Sebastien Schultz' drumming was solid, forceful rock drumming, too, and there was a nice weight to their songs--and the reel-to-reel (nicknamed Irene, I'd later find) gave a more full sound than the pair could have otherwise produced.

I snapped up the only thing they had with them at the show--a 7" of two songs, paired with a CD designated for the year's tour (2012) and a download code for their first album (home-typed and printed, clearly!). I had the pair sign it (as you can see) and went on my merry way. The CD was actually composed of songs from their then-forthcoming album, The Mess We've Made, while the single was actually a pair of songs from their self-titled first album, released in 2009.

"Dancing on TV" was probably the catchiest song from the show, as well as the lead song on that CD, but that means, of course, it wasn't on the single itself. The single is still in the same style the band sticks to, though: Schultz on drums and Davis on keys and guitar, singing, in a style that's unique and somewhat difficult to describe. It's very strongly enunciated, and quite exaggerated, and seems to carry a sort of hangdog happiness--strange though that may sound. It's as if he's drained of energy in a part of the sound, yet the range and modulation he puts into his voice betrays the lie of that notion. It gives them a bit of their own character, and it's a good and enjoyable character to have.

"Falling Tide" is the louder song, a simple drum machine (tape loop, I'm guessing!) intro that very quickly turns to a real drum and a rumbling bass as Davis sings in that style of his, defining the melody. The chorus throws a spray of keys back at us and kicks in the guitar, but, most important, lets us hear the best part of Davis: his choruses. "I never would have held it back if/I thought that we'd get through"--and it's that through, dragged through a sliding range of notes and three extra syllables. Absolute singalong in the best sense.

"The Lie" is the lighter companion. A ticking timer starts the track, and then in comes Davis' voice, extra clear and completely up front, right in front of you in the mix, and only a calm, quiet keyboard line follows him for the entire first verse. The second verse shifts the keys up an octave or so¹, and halfway through adds a looped pizzicato violin. And then we get the chorus: "'Cause sometimes, sometimes to get by/I believe in the lie". Davis again is happy to give a single word multiple notes, and Schultz enters, too, as does a bass. A flute section, and the rhythm section get to follow him into the second repetition of the verses, and we get to hear that great chorus again--and Davis finally lets loose the third time through, and you hear his voice at full energy, the entire song coming upward with a faux chorus. The final, long-held instance of the chorus is perhaps the most exciting, and fades to the somewhat hesitant sound of his voice seeming to realize what he's singing: he has just sung loudly of his habit of getting by by pretending. That little note of reality creeps in and the song falls to a stop.

You know, I'm not going to pretend that I'm in a space where there needs to be some kind of absolute ground-breaking, totally unique element--I've never demanded nor always appreciated that, it has to be done right. And so does a catchy song--and Bad Veins do it right, and have done. Given the right exposure they could--and should--get a lot more fans. If the engineer I know who has done sound for them (completely without my prior knowledge, mind you!) can appreciate them in his tendency toward the weirder, darker (and often more country or folk, but edged) kind of things, then that should say something, I think.

Most of the 7"s I have fit into the space one would expect a 7" to fit in: they are catchy singles that are readily digested and immediate, great to listen to and enjoy as much as you want--not necessarily shallow, but accessible. Bad Veins is no exception, and none of that should be taken as anything but endorsement.

While we're here, there's actually the video of "Dancing on TV" from the very show I attended, embedded here for your enjoyment:

¹Let's remember I'm not great at music theory, but that feels right?