Sun Gangs

The Veils | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 7, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rough Trade Us
• ASIN: B001T46UKU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #149,988 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Their third album, following a very busy period. They recorded a 10-track album with Graham Sutton (Jarvis Cocker, British Sea Power) and Bernard Butler (Duffy, Black Kids), and filmed video accompaniments to their music with Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds). Look for this UK / Kiwi four-piece on tour this spring.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Veils - Sun Gangs 8/10, April 28, 2009

By 

Rudolph Klapper "www.klap4music.com" (Los Angeles / Orlando) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sun Gangs (Audio CD)

Sun Gangs still finds the band on Rough Trade, surprising considering their continuing lack of success, but the Veils' penchant for sharp guitar melodies, affecting acoustic slow-burners, and Andrews' inimitable vocals and nakedly emotional lyrics remain just as fine-tuned as ever before. Opener "Sit Down By The Fire" is vintage Veils, opening with a gentle piano/guitar riff and Andrews' compelling, Nick Cave-influenced voice. Lyrically it starts off a bit rusty, with more than a few forced rhymes and cringe-inducing heart-on-your-sleeve sentiments ("just say you don't love me anymore"), but when the bluesy bridge kicks in and Andrews intones "some day / a little rain is bound to fall," it's clear that the Veils haven't lost a step yet.

The following title song is a gentle piano dirge that alternates between optimism and self-pity, with the controlled vocals as the main attraction. It's placement on the album, however, is more than a little odd, stilting any momentum the surging "Sit Down By The Fire" generated at its end, and the climactic crescendo seemingly promised in the last third never arrives.

Highlight single "The Letter" quickly dispels the gloom, however, supported by a descending, chiming guitar melody that quickly sticks in the head and featuring a sonic blast of a chorus that coats itself in waves of reverb and Andrews' piercing howl leading the way through. "The Letter" kicks off a run of the album's best, most notably the fierce "Killed By The Boom" and the reflective blues of "It Hits Deep." The former recalls Nux Vomica's "Jesus For The Jugular" with its distorted rip current of a guitar line and Andrews' anguished, throat-tearing screams. It's the only song on the record that approaches the best of the sonic nastiness of their sophomore effort, and Andrews' performance is that of a man possessed. "It Hits Deep," meanwhile, is the kind of gradual, poignant buildup that the Veils have mastered and that their singer has made his trademark, creating the same kind of tension that the title track mustered and releasing it all in a sing-a-long ending that is restrained and cathartic at the same time.

The rollicking rock of family tragedy "Three Sisters" is pulsating, fist-pumping guitar glory in its finest with the kind of primal lament Andrews has made his own, while upbeat "The House She Lived In" is a complete 180-degree turn into regretful `60s Brill Building pop and typically emotive lyrics. Both are excellent examples of the Veils' versatility and Andrews' consistently passionate lyrical talents.

"Scarecrow," unfortunately, is also a fantastic example of what drags the Veils down, namely plodding metaphorical ballads that threaten to go somewhere but never really develop from what they started off as. The dangerously long (eight-and-a-half minute) "Larkspur," however, is a microcosm of the Veils' oeuvre as a whole, taking the band's mastery of the crescendo to the extreme. It's an interesting illustration of the band's bread-and-butter, a slowly rising boil of fuzzy distortion and Andrews' undeniable charisma, but it is neither gripping nor innovative enough to merit such an extended running time.

The band ends, as they tend to do, on the soft, contemplative notes of "Begin Again," merely Andrews and a commanding piano framing a fairly clichéd "start anew" lesson. While the record ends with a disappointing whimper, Andrews and his supporting cast have made another worthy addition to the band's neglected discography, one that fails to match the epic indie rock `n poetry of Nux Vomica but one that more than stands up on its own, with some of Andrews' most vehement showings and eloquent lyrics.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great new album!, July 9, 2009

By 

Greg Kinne "Criticaljoe" (midwest) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sun Gangs (Audio CD)

The Veils' principal Finn Andrews has been quietly simmering with each release, honing their songs writing abilities and musicianship. As the band has grown there has been numerous line up changes with Finn Andrews remaining the only constant on all three albums. On `Sun Gangs' it looks like his perseverance has paid off as this album is quite masterful with songs that resonate with maturity that belie his youth.

`Sun Gangs' begins with the rousing, "Sit Down By The Fire" which features a ruminating Andrews caught up in the feeling of love. This track examines the mind boggling complexities of love in the 21st century with the refrain echoing the sentiments, one where the narrator is unsure he'll get what he wants, and the call and response assuring him that he will get everything. The pensive title track is a melancholy piano ballad accompanied by some layered keyboards that sounds like a surrender of sorts.

The album gets a lift from the Asian influenced guitars of "The Letter" which could be an Echo & The Bunnymen b-side. "Killed By The Boom" crashes in and sound like a cross between Achtung Baby Era U2/Echo with a dash of Jeff Buckley thrown in. The jagged guitars riffs in this track sputter while a snarling vocal showcases a different side of The Veils. "It Hits Deep" and the 60's inspired "The House She Lived In" reveal a folk rock side of The Veils reveling in 4/4 rhythms. "Larkspur" is a malevolent song, an eight-minute epic that seems to relish in the vanquishing of demons. As the album closes, Andrews assures his followers in the stately "Begin Again," "...we're just following the light of long dead stars..." Hopefully his star continues to shine.