Rose City

Viva Voce

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 26, 2009)
• Original Release Date: May 26, 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Barsuk
• ASIN: B0025THV4W
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #27,953 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

After two years of non-stop touring, band founders Kevin and Anita Robinson took an entire year off (unheard of for them) to clear their heads and focus on other projects. Now Viva Voce are back with Rose City, an album they wrote, arranged, and recorded all in one furious month - choosing not to deliberate over every little thing but living purely in the moment musically and lyrically. Immersing themselves in sonic experimentation, it was spontaneous and cathartic. The result is an angular, immediate record that pulses with the palpable urgency of a band yearning for a return to the vagabond life of the working, touring musician - a mode in which Viva Voce is truly at home.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Atmospheric pop/rock, October 16, 2009

By	Willaim E. Tynor III "anti-snob.com" (Phx, AZ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Atmospheric pop/rock from a band centered around a male/female duo,similar to the infrastructure of bands like The Raveonettes. Viva Voce is an American band (Portland by way of Nashville and part of Alabama)that may sound European during the first few listens. Here on their fifth album, the duo-turned-quartet make obvious advances with the fullness of their sound and production, leaving the primitive quality of past recordings behind.

Rose City still retains the keep-it-in-the-family like charm found of albums like Lovers Lead The Way and Get Yr Blood Sucked Out while keeping some of that neo-psychedelic feel in songs like the opener "Devotion" and "Red Letter Day". The strong vocal contribution from co-founder Kevin Robinson keeps Viva Voce from being another female-led indie rock band, although the soft, folky contributions from main vocalist Anita Robinson are among the best I've heard lately and I don't think they would have that much trouble standing out even without Kevin's parts included.

While The Raveonettes rely heavily on primitive reverb to shape their signature sound and The Kills depend dearly on well thought out pre-programmed drum tracks that borderlines their output as disco-punk, Viva Voce's songs are built more organically and are centered around basic pop/rock song structure complimented by some very innovative yet memorable guitar work by Kevin.

To call Rose City an actual neo-psychedelic rock album would be misleading. The songs are too formatted in pop. Most psychedelic indie rock have a dark, mysterious, almost sleepy quality. Rose City is far more awake. The entire record could offer the perfect soundtrack to a bright post-dawn morning walk on the beach - which, depending on how the sun shines through the clouds on that given day, could be an experience that is hardly psychedelic.