Victories At Sea
represent a certain synth-pop bombast, something found readily in
White Lies and Chapel Club once upon a time. They are an unashamed
re-rendering of that transcendent movement towards the epic, the
holistic, the heart-swellingly "complete" – as their album’s
title would readily prove. Opening track ‘Bloom’ announces their
stance on this with a metaphorical fanfare, while second track
‘Florentine’ slips them back into safer, 'Holy Fire' territory
– disco drums, synth throbs, and vocals jumping between staccato,
falsetto and just plain full. ‘Florentine’, despite the
accomplishment with which it has been arranged and produced, never
quite lives up the promise of the band, due to the fact it’s too
far into Foals territory to be considered on its own merits.
This is a problem at
several points through the album; their influences and sonic
contemporaries tend to get in the way of any real innovation
occurring in the music. 'The Drive' soundtrack-reminiscent synths are
a touch of wonderful nostalgia and depth worth plumbing for all the
individual uniqueness they offer, but they’re clouded by
faux-Yannis vocals, Pet Shop Boys drum samples and White Lies
B-side-material sounds. ‘Swim’ is of the album’s worst
offenders in this regard, though it’s still run through with a
sense of urgency that carries you quite a way before you realise the
crime.
These moments aside,
the album is a refreshing take on the synth-pop genre. ‘Up’,
while a song that relies on what feels like reconditioned ideas,
pumps with aggressive synth tones no one else would dare to include
in a pop song (Taylor Swift tried, and pussied out), and drops an
unexpected guitar lead that intrigues as well as enthuses. Album
closer ‘Sirens’ broods with sine-wave bass and swollen melodies
from the other side of a large chamber before kicking up into a
Nicholas Winding-Refn soundtrack throb, creating one of the album’s
few unique moods and making it incredibly affecting in the process.
It’s
easy to crap on music of this ilk, especially when done badly. But
Victories At Sea haven’t done it badly; in fact, they’ve done it
rather well. ‘Everything Forever’ is no chore to listen to, but
it can be very easy to become mired in those precious moments where
their music drops seemingly into tribute-territory.
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