Nux Vomica [ENHANCED]

The Veils

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 24, 2007)
• Original Release Date: April 24, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: Rough Trade
• ASIN: B000O5B4S8
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #45,817 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
"It looks an ugly world out there" moans Veils leader Finn Andrews as the New Zealand quintet opens their sophomore album Nux Vomica, and the outlook doesn't get much sunnier as the veil is lifted to reveal eleven theatrical and contradictory tracks. Nux Vomica is the Latin name for a poison tree of South East Asia, source of deadly strychnine, and the Veils seem to have ingested just enough to hurt--behind the alluring melody and lush instrumentation of each song here, there's an unmistakable menace seeping through. The shadow of Echo and the Bunnymen looms large (the title track could have been a "Killing Moon" b-side), and more than a trace of the punctuated rhythms of past New Zealand indie notables the Verlaines in the somber and swaggering "Jesus for the Jugular." The enhanced disc also contains a video for "Advice for Young Mothers to Be", which might cause concern at Child Protective Services if it weren't so amusing. --Ben Heege

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh fate, your face, April 29, 2007

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The Veils are doing a pretty good job of obscuring the lines between genres -- is their second album: A. classic metal, B. Britpop, or C. wild weird indiepop?

Answer: D, all of the above. This New Zealand band has a new lineup and a new sound, not to mention the kind of renewed energy that bands rarely have on their sophomore album. And in "Nux Vomica" they tear through different musical genres, with brilliantly raw results.

"It looks an ugly world out there/Of girl-guides and disease and war/I love my little velvet bed/I never want to leave it anymore," howls Finn Andrews in the opening song. "All my fears will come to me in dreams/Maybe the end ain't as far as it seems/Not yet revived but not yet mourned/Not quite denied just not yet born..."

The song he's singing changes several times as it plays -- it starts off as a some of folksy ballad, but them blooms out into an eerie synthy hard-rocker, and then into as sort of piano-edged metal. And over it all, he's wailing, "I TRIIIIIIIIIIED.... I TRIIIIIIED..." By the end of it, I was dizzy.

Things don't get any less colourful with the songs that follow. Each one seems to give a new spin on indie-rock -- flavoured with calliope, soulfully edged with soaring voices, ominous and distorted, smashing alt-rock, twinkly hard-rockers. They even work in a ballad, "Under The Folding branches," which is an exquisite little shimmer of strings and piano.

The Veiils are apparently trying to wring every last drop of inspiration from their music -- they smush classic indie-rock, moments of hard-rock and metal, with driving Britpop edges. And it all serves as the frame for Andrews' songs of uncertainty and sorrow.

The music is a swirl of hard-edged guitar and bass, and sometimes they explode into eruptions of pure hard rock. But the raw instrumentals are laced with some tinkly piano and shimmering keyboard, and Lou Reed collaborator Jane Scarpontoni weaves in some beautiful string arrangements as well. Some songs are catchy, some are fast-paced, but all of them are wonderfully layered.

But they all have a feeling of mild sadness and confusion, and that gets reflected in the songs as well. Andrews seems to be asking "what's the point? What's ahead of us?", and reflecting on the decay of the world. And he sings it in a sort of Robert Plant manner, howling with devastating power -- but he can also switch to the bittersweet murmur of a ballad.

Good thing the Veils changed their lineup and sound, because "Nux Vomica" is a painful, exquisite rock album that deserves to be heard. Definitely one of the best of 2007 thus far.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wild and lovely, April 24, 2007

By	Jennifer Barger (Falls Church, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Is this a Brit pop band? A New Zealand heavy metal stomp outfit? The latest chamber rock wunderkind in the mold of the Arcade Fire and Okkervil River? The Veils are all these things, and a bit more. The Kiwi lead singer, who sounds like a mix of Robert Plant and the dude who fronts the Violent Femmes (really, stay with me here), growls and emotes over piano, high-hat heavy drums and aggressive guitar. But how did these guys get so adept at pop, anthems, what sounds like American southern rock boogies and heart-wrenching love ballads? America hasn't heard of these guys, but when this CD comes out in April, I trust they will...the Veils are, to quote Hank Williams, Sr., "wild and blue."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Here to Stay, June 26, 2007

By	Derek Weiler (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this album and took it along on my iPod this summer and hardly listened to it. Now I'm back in New York, and I can't live without it. Just saw his acoustic cover of Bruce Springsteen's "State Trooper" on YouTube, and finally understood.