The cover art of “Home”, the debut album from Binghampton University duo Vermilion Club, might have you geared up for a dreary experience. Fear not: those worries are dispelled the moment the music starts. “Daylight” kicks in with a snappy, upbeat guitar line and vocals delivered with childlike enthusiasm that doesn’t fade at all across the album’s 11 tracks.
This isn’t childish music though. Vermilion Club are adventurous and their instrumentation can get pretty complex, with an array of strings, Local Natives style clicking drums and and even occasional horns. All these elements come together stunningly on “Hummingbirds”, a track that is as fast-paced and colourful as its title suggests.
In truth, sometimes Vermilion Club’s penchant for adventure can hurt them, with occasionally jarring bursts of synths on otherwise acoustic tracks. But on “Frau Troffea” this juxtaposition of gentle acoustic verses with frankly mad synth breakdowns is explosive. It takes a certain mental adjustment to enjoy, following on from “Id Kid”, undoubtedly the album’s most tender moment, but if you can get your head around it, it’s brilliant.
On “Odd”, lead singer Dylan Campbell asks us to “stay here all night… I’m so happy when you ask me to play my guitar and sing.” That simple joy in making music pervades the whole album. You can download “Daylight”, “Frau Troffea” and [an absolute must] “Hummingbirds” below. Stream the whole album or buy it for as little as $3 via the bandcamp link.
Connect with Vermilion Club – Myspace | Facebook | Bandcamp
Vermilion Club – “Daylight”
Vermilion Club – “Hummingbirds”
Vermilion Club – “Frau Troffea”
