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OOC: Just knocked this up quickly on my lunch break. Apologies for any typos or inaccuracies. Vile Hour - Sympathies with Satan - Review
Vile Hour - the band that just keeps on giving. It's hard to believe that it's been less than a year since cabaret-rock duo Castor Drake and Nichole Fischer first threw back the curtains and swanned into our consciousness in their finery as Vile Hour. The band have already released one hugely successful album in that time, as well as touring and finding time for a variety of TV performances that have seen them become firmly recognisable faces. And far from resting on their laurels, the pair have launched straight back into work on a follow up record - all while both enjoy their new marriages and Nichole endures all the technicalities of pregnancy.
If there's one thing anyone could say about Vile Hour, it's that they always know how to bring something to the party, and Sympathies with Satan is no exception. Their music is as diverse as it is exciting, and changes in style, tempo and composition are frequent. Their newest release toys with the alternative rock genre, with Nichole and Castor lending their skills to something which fans will appreciate as being vastly different, but still Vile Hour. Bouncy and theatrical as ever, the song also takes on an edgier and darker sound as it addresses thoughts that clearly comment on their career to date. Thematically, it's not the fans that this song is targeting though, and it's joy lies in its deliciously venomous tirade. The thinly-veiled play on words launched against detractors from the start to the end is perfectly placed. Too many artists decide to slam "haters" when they have yet to prove themselves, but Vile Hour have timed their attack quite wonderfully.
That Nichole first to rose to fame as a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother raised (tattooed) eyebrows about the credibility of this band from the get-go, but they have continuously knocked critics on their collective ass ever since. Debut album hitting number one? Check. A raft of top ten singles? Check. Successful tours around the world? In the bag. Have they earned the right to have a pop back? Of course they have, and they will no doubt take great pleasure in the unease this will cause among the mainstream media that has so often tried to shoot them down. Referring to detractors as "debt collectors", Nichole laments how certain sections of the music industry would gladly cut out her tongue to stop her singing what she wants, before mischievously quipping at how even without the ability to form a coherent sentence, she could still top the charts. She later also suggests that Jesus and Satan might like to enter a tryst....look out for the backlash on that one!
As strong and wondrously placed as the in-thine-face message of the track is, though, it's important not to forget the artistic quality of Sympathies with Satan. Drake and Fischer are something of a dynamic duo, and when the pair get together, you just know the resultant array of sounds will be fabulous. The long introduction complete with guitars and pianos is definitely more adventurous and inventive than anything Vile Hour have done before, while the general upbeat tone mixed with the almost ominous interludes provides a rollercoaster for the mind. While it is different though, there can be no doubt that this track is definitively Vile Hour. Never content with providing "easy music", the kooky duet have always done their utmost to challenge the listener, to present them with a song and say "make of this what you will....but it better be right," and this does not stray from that path.
Sympathies with Satan serves as something of a preview for the upcoming difficult second Vile Hour album. While this is arguably the hardest hurdle in any act's career, and one that has claimed many promising futures over the year, Vile Hour have skipped over the barrier in typically confident style. There's no secret to this - they just know who they are, and that's what makes them so likeable and enjoyable. As the song says so clearly, Vile Hour are who they are, and no amount of pressure or name calling will cause them to change their course (so fuck you, debt collectors and may the reaper smite you). They might be weird, they might have some quirks that make them one of the stranger and more curious acts in today's market, but Vile Hour provide something that the industry needs more than ever - a defining act. With their upcoming second album due to also be their second on major label Chaos Records, they are about to cement their place as one of the company's most shrewd signings in history, and that is no mean feat.
Take a bow Castor and Nichole, soak up the applause, but don't get too comfortable - your audience is already calling out for an encore.
4.5/5 |
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