Wisconsin’s Vanishing Kids are a band I’ve only recently fallen in love with. By complete chance I picked up their new album Miracle of Death to review and subsequently listened to their previous album Heavy Dreamer. Before I come to this new opus, I want to point you to their song ‘Heavy Dreamer’ which is quite simply incredible, and one of the best songs I’ve ever heard. Specialising in dreamy, epic and magical psych rock with elements of sludge/doom, this band are a bona fide time warp from heady days of yore. Heavy hits of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and more than a splattering of Jane’s Addiction, courtesy of Nikki Drohomyreky’s simply astounding voice, made my intrigue levels peak.
Produced by the band, who consist of Nikki (voice, organ, synthesizers), Jason Hartman (guitars), Jerry Sofran (bass) and Nick Johnson (drums), the album was mixed by Randall Dunn (Sunn O))), Anna Von Hauswolff, Pallbearer, Wolves In The Throne Room). You’ll get an idea of the sheer depth of this album based on Dunn’s previous artists. This music absolutely booms with physicality yet retains a beautiful shimmering grace.
Opening with ‘Spill the Dark’ which twinkles like the intro to The Cure’s ‘Plainsong’ before similarly erupting with an eruption of heavy guitars over funereal colossal drums. When Nikki begins to tenderly sing the haunting melody it’s simultaneously frightening and warmly reassuring. The song’s chorus is an absolute beauty with an aching melody that winds and weaves magnificently straight to your core. Nikki starts to sing with an emotional restraint, allowing her space to reach out for some stunning minor key notes as the song winds to an end. Jason’s guitar solo is a bluesy deep wail that blends in with the booming organ and as the song subsides with mournful strings and piano, it’s breath-taking.
Nick gets to wallop the toms with vigour on the powerful and motoring ‘Only You’, as swirling psychedelic guitars make mischief around them. Nikki sings a wondrous twisty melody for the chorus that will infiltrate your head and not leave. ‘Demon Glove’ opens with a Jon Lord-esque organ and a sighing violin (courtesy of Gavin Epperson) before Jason pours some scorching hot guitar licks. Nikki’s voice is broken and emotional as she lays out a stunning melody line that soars intermittently with ease. By the end of the track we’re treated to a tender passage of calmness before Jason rips out a searing guitar solo, he’s a masterful guitar player creating stunning sounds.
On ‘Midnight Child’ Nikki’s voice soars as she spins out a ghostly melody over music that sounds like it was created 50 years ago. Black Sabbath and Deep Purple definite reference points for this one, as sludgy riffs mingle with a booming organ. The production is really quite incredible throughout this album, it sounds so vintage, yet has a lovely modern sheen. ‘Feral Angel’ is a swampy fusion of heavy distorted riffs and an airy organ tone that flitters above the dirge. The chorus melody brings lighter hues as once again Nikki hits some brilliant off-kilter notes that subversively play off the music. Only when the track fades to acoustic guitar and vocals do you realise just how huge this album sounds.
The guitars take a break for the dreamy ‘LKN’ allowing a droning organ and sighing violin to lead the instrumentation as Nikki’s voice floats like mist over a moonlit lake. ‘Dust’ ends the album in trippy form with cosmic keyboards and swirling fuzzy guitars. Nikki imitates prime Perry Farrell with some sublime vocals that hit places you never expect them to go. With a run time of nine minutes the band flex their talents with some stupendous solo-ing and virtuoso playing. Nikki’s voice is multi-tracked over itself as the melodies writhe, inducing a lovely trance like state, before the song blows out with frenzied solos and thunderous drums.
Albums like this, bands like this, give me such hope. It’s just incredible discovering new music that causes me so much excitement, yet this band are never likely to trouble the mainstream. That just makes them all the more enjoyable to me, my special little secret. Combining elements of some of my favourite genres with the close affinity they have with Jane’s Addiction, this band was always going to be hugely appealing. Like Jane’s, there’s an element of danger in the band’s art and videos, I find that allure undeniable. It’s staggering that such retro sounding music can sound so refreshing and Miracle of Death is just glorious from start to finish.
