At Vodka, we are always delighted to come across a band that truly embodies our moniker. So it was with great jubilation that we stumbled across The Collection, a community of musicians and singers fronted by the high tenor vocals of founder and lead David Wimbish. In true alternative fashion, no musical instrument is rejected as witnessed here on Old Wineskins which includes trombone, sax, and clarinet in the mix along with all of the usual pop-rock components. Musical influences are also truly alternative, with the obvious…
Read MoreIt is a tough process to balance musically on a line between danceable pop and full-on rock and roll, but UK band Some Velvet Morning (SVM) does it perfectly here with No Walls, from the band’s latest 4-song EP, Musical Chairs (April 2016). SVM has been making pop music on the edge of rock since 2006. It is amazing that a three-piece band can sound so much larger than their numbers! On No Walls, the band’s nearly discoesque beats give way to driving rock during the refrain. SVM is…
Read MoreOn April 21st, the world was shocked by the untimely death of Prince Rogers Nelson, 57, better known as simply, Prince. As of this writing, there is no listed cause of death although he had been ill lately, canceling several shows for health concerns. If you examine the sheer volume of work put out by Prince in the last few years alone, you might have wondered if he somehow knew that his time here on earth was short. Prince kept a frenetic schedule, often sleeping only a few hours every night, and producing buckets of material. He forged a gap between…
Read MoreYou may remember Swiss band Matto Rules from the Vodka posting almost a year ago for the beautiful, haunting, Saranda. Well, the long-awaited long-player for the band, What Comes Around (March 2016) is finally here, and it is worth the wait as demonstrated by Tonight above. As with the earlier Saranda, Matto Rules has plenty of the plaintive and haunting, but What Comes Around displays a willingness to play with the outer edges, rocking up the tempo (Tonight, Somewhere Else) or the middle ground (Alive, Let It Rain) all the time maintaining…
Read MoreIndie rockers Clone of Clones recently released their first long-player after a few years of developing their sound and gigging around the Washington DC area. Somebody Else is one of the tracks from Monster Heart (October 2015), which deconstructs the love, lost love, moving on subject very uniquely. The overall sound of Clone of Clones is very modern indie-rock. It is accessible while still being enough different to set them apart from the crowds of music in the same genre’. That’s if you can locate them in that…
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