Vasquez, an Edinburgh based trio, describe themselves as makers of ‘action packed instrumental rock’ and they owe their name to Pvt. Vasquez, the kick ass character from James Cameron’s ‘Aliens’. The reference is very clear on their first two EPs, very simply called EP and EP2 - the sound is very… metal and I don’t mean the music genre alone (although Vasquez’s sound leaves no doubt as to where that genre took its name from), I mean literally all kinds of metals you can gather together to make noise with - iron, steel, aluminium, chrome… Pvt. Vasquez’s machine gun is also there, blasting on full speed.
You’d imagine that following the previous EP titles EP426 is their 426th EP - you’d be wrong, it’s their third and it’s definitely their grooviest one to date. What made me jump at the opportunity to review it was one simple recommendation: "They play instrumental math-like post-rock/metal greatness. Lots of Battles influences going there as well". If there is god, he knows how much I love my math-like post-rock greatness and I absolutely adore Battles.
But there is a huge danger in naming such distinctive inspirations…EP426 opens with ‘POW!’, a song with a beautifully rusty intro and that very recognisable groove that indeed immediately brings to mind Mirrored, Battles’ debut album. The tempo is really catchy and makes my feet thump instantly, especially when it picks up after a brief slow down. But then there’s this perfectly timed "WHOA!" and do you know that moment in And So I Watch You From Afar’s ‘Set Guitars To Kill’ at 3:12, when there’s that "WHOO!"? Well, there’s that and I briefly forget about Battles and switch my mind to ASIWYFA.
But the second track, ‘Tiger Shark’, sets me back in the Mirrored mood which continues in ‘Harmonise It’, sparked up by glittering electronica. ’85’ is the ethereal breather, with riffs gently echoing in the distance and the album finishes with ‘Low To Be Heavy’, a track dangerously reminding me of ASIWYFA’s ‘A Little Bit Of Solidarity Goes A Long Way’.
I’m not saying EP426 is not good or that I don’t like it. On the contrary - I actually really do, especially when I’m home alone and can put it on a full volume. The sound is absolutely great - it has that gorgeous guitar roughness cleverly enhanced by electronica. But my initial thought after the first listen was: "It sounds like cut-offs from Mirrored".
The more I listened to it (and I did listen an awful lot), the more influences I found (the obvious And So I Watch You From Afar and Three Trapped Tigers to name another one). I know that influences are not a bad thing, after all we do live in a post-everything world where all has been done before, however if you’re listening to a DIY band and genuinely can’t tell the difference between them and the ones that they took the inspiration from - there’s definitely room for improvement there. On the flipside, Battles managed to create their own unique niche in the world of math music, so sounding exactly like them is a sort of achievement.
Vasquez’s first two EPs are really seriously good, they are more post-metal and lighter on electronica. It’s great to see that they are evolving and looking for new directions. EP426, even though I’m not raving about it because of all the above, is still a solid, enjoyable and well thought through piece of music. It gives me hope that on their debut LP Vasquez will find their own distinctive, bad ass sound worthy of their "Aliens" godmother.
