The Veils – Sun Gangs Review
Rating: 
Finn Andrews is a revelation: throughout the backcatalogue of The Veils’ material, he’s always managed to produce a variety in his vocals pretty much unmatched by their genre’s peers. From warbles to cracking of the voice to animalistic screams, there’s always been that little spice in their music to make them instantly separable from would-be contemporaries: Sun Gangs is no exception.
The introductory track, Sit Down by the Fire, starts with the delicate tinkling of piano keys and the lightest of percussion: this combination soon to be met by a warbling Andrews. In comes the full band, and with full effect: the plodding percussion so typical of the Veils is soon introduced, but not in a manner reminiscent of any of their prior work: there’s more of a seeming purpose to it. Rather than taking a back seat as it had in prior efforts, the percussive element of the music is brought to the fore, and with a wonderful effect of creating a sense of minimalism admist the complexities of multitracked music. Sun Gangs, named (quite obviously) in a fit of eponymism, is a step down in tempo and demontrates further Andrews’ range: fragility being the face card here, replete with the most endearing of vocal faults. Piano and bass lines lead these most wonderful of flaws into a simple, yet somehow rousing, chorus of ‘Where I am going you can’t save me.’
The Letter and Killed by the Boom are the more typical fare of hypnotic guitar mixed with prominent percussive instrumentation, yet still find a niche of their own through their somewhat innovative use varying tones to accompany the state of the vocals perfectly: the guitar manages to somehow flit from sounding angry one moment to fragile another; distortion and delay shown to be the most useful of tools for creating moods. It Hits Deep is probably the weakest track on the album and may well have only served as a vocal masturbatory act for Andrews: whilst his ability to shift moods in tone is admirable (I may have made my appreciation clear by now), this track just seems to labour upon this one trick, when it’s clearly apparent that the band are a pony of multiple finesses.
The vivacity and sheer energy of the band are once again adroitly demonstrated by Three Sisters: the resonance of the guitars amidst a minimal drum pattern create a wonderful depth for the wails of Andrews to find a home in. In a horribly incoherent lack of foresight, The House She Lived In brings the reader back down to a low-tempo state with a shock and really does rather interrupt the flow of the album: even if it is a delicate and (dare I say it) ‘pretty’ song with male-female multi-layered vocals in the chorus creating a warm atmosphere.
Scarecrow, however, does flow well on from this with simple, high guitar notes accompanying a subtle in a delicate mesh. Larkspur is the peak of the album: its instrumentation is simply divine and Andrews’ voice reaches each and every one of its multiple facets and the music touching on every one of the Veils’ disparate influences. The song is almost post-rockish in scope and the intensity of its build up and break down amidst the screams of ’something’s got a hold of me.’ Begin Again ends the album well and with balance: whilst less texturally thick than Sit down by the Fire, it has some deal of symmetry with it and serves to round off the experience of the album as a whole.
Truly, this is definitely a peak of 2009 thus far: no other band captures my imagination quite the like The Veils, especially with their unique brand of ‘indie’ which takes a little from everything within the confines of a genre which lacks definition. They’re a wonderful way to find eclecticism in a single place.
