Send "The Veils " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Suprememanagement |
 I don’t know man. I feel like this is the type of album that warrants a sober/thoughtful/literate sort of review, but I’m just so goddamn bored of that sort of thing. We all know where fucking Pitchfork is, and I myself am quite happy leaving them to do the academic legwork for me. I’m more into feeling music these days. I want catharsis, you know?But, supposing I was going to get into it, I would assume that you didn’t know much about the Veils, just because I didn’t even though I thought I knew something about everything worth knowing something about. Then I would mention that frontman Finn Andrews is like 25 years old (like me!) and his dad was in XTC (“Making Plans For Nigel”!) and that this is his third album as main-dude for the Veils (not like me at all in any way!) and that not only does he have the pedigree and the chops but he’s also a handsome-ass motherfucker with a voice kind of like Win Butler minus the self-indulgence and all-knowing pomposity (maybe). An example of a good musicritic-sentence I might have constructed is: “By turns warm and ethereal, thundering and cacophonous, The Veils set Sun Gangs apart from efforts by like-minded peers such as the Arcade Fire by imbuing their lush, at times grandiose arrangements with a sense of youthful honesty and personal reflection that seems to so often get lost under the sea of ideas within similarly ambitious efforts.” Good, right? I mean, it doesn’t really say anything, but music writers like to use that vague sort of pseudo-literate gobbledygook because it’s never ‘wrong.’ Reviewing an album is a bit like drafting a press release for a highly controversial political maneuver, I imagine. You need to give yourself some ways out if somebody decides to call your bluff....full text |
| Artrocker |
| The press release projects that this is the first proper offering from The Veils, that their first two forays, Runaway Found and Nux Vomica, didn’t quite showcase their talent enough. Nux Vomica was a widely celebrated and mature achievement, but Sun Gangs sees the band swiftly assert their talent even further. The glossy lushness of Bernard Butler’s production never strays from its reputation of oft-overproduced overkill. This time, however, it seems to work (he produced Sit Down By The Fire, the rest of the album was produced by Graham Sutton). It seems that Finn Andrews has been listening to a lot of Leonard Cohen, with his moody dramatic sentiments shining through in the harrowing and heartbroken languor of his voice and his destructively emotive piano/guitar strum marriage. There could also be comparisons made to Jack White in Andrews’ erratic shouty vocals in Killed By The Boom, but in softer tracks such as The House She Lived In he shows a more subdued side. Ultimately Sun Gangs is not a huge divergence from their known sound, but suggests that Andrews has endured a lot more since his cushy days at his parents’ place. He’s travelled the world, endured both overbearing praise and harsh criticism, and expressed this in more than just his songs. It seems the pressure building up is mirrored in the tense and experimental eight-minute-plus Larkspur. The songs are largely more sombre, particularly with the title track and opener Sit Down By The Fire seeming to express a dire sadness. This mood reappears in the latter half of the album. Andrews’ vocals show that he’s still at the top of his game and Sophia Burn (bass), Dan Raishbrook (guitar) and Henning Dietz (drums) all play eloquently. Punchy, aggressive and individual, Sun Gangs is a perfect musical representation of Andrews and the perfect vehicle for expressing his recent emotional endeavours. He describes the album as “a very modern mixture of prayers, love letters and personal record keeping”. The image of him dutifully transcribing his thoughts at night by the light of an oil lamp and then screaming and singing these thoughts to tape is oddly heart-warming. The Veils has always exuded a kind of old-time sophistication, and this shines through resolutely in the more aggressive approach of Sun Gangs. Sarah...full text |
| Musicomh |
| This is, apparently, The Veils' break-up album. Not the band, it would seem, but possibly an even more destructive parting in the life of singer Finn Andrews. In this record he raises himself above the parapet as an English equivalent to The National's Matt Berninger. With a voice often wracked with pain and heartbreak, his emotions are shot to pieces, and as we pick our way gingerly through the wreckage of Sun Gangs' more reckless moments, Andrews lays himself bare. It's not a record of unremittingly bleak outlook, but if you listen closely to Sun Gangs you will be in need of a lie-down by the end. The emotional similarities with The National's Alligator album are uncanny to begin with, mind. Both records begin with a stately first track, jangling guitars to the fore. "Sit down by the fireside," Andrews urges his listener, before tellingly observing that "some day, a little rain is bound to fall"....full text |
The Veils lyrics
|
| |||||||||||||
