by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
2013... it was a simpler time. We may not have known it then, but here we are in 2017 and well, much has gone to shit. The mysterious Vincent Vocoder Voice tried to warn us. His self-titled debut, released that November, was full of cryptic catastrophe and impending doom (and without vocoder)... and it was a phenomenal record from start to finish. In the years since, VVV has remained relatively quiet, releasing just an EP and two-song single, retaining his claustrophobic worldview with poetic brilliance. While Vincent Vocoder Voice has receded back into the shadows, he hasn't sat dormant, and he has more to say than ever. Set to release I, Too, Was Wrought With Love on October 13th via Tipp City Records (Eugene Quell, The Lunchtime Sardine Club, Chalk), the ten-track album is accompanied by an 89 page paperback book of poetry, philosophy, and distorted perception.
The music of Vincent Vocoder Voice is generally unclassifiable. Blending together "college rock," damaged indie and the avant-garde, the sound of I, Too, Was Wrought With Love is shrouded in a sinister darkness, bleak and aggressively deranged in a way that would make John Congleton and The Paper Chase proud. Pianos plink and creek, guitars boil with distortion, samples disorient, and VVV's wordy vocals interject a sardonic sense of humor into the apocalyptic nothingness on songs like the chaos-is-near anthem "The Swindler of the Abyss," the carnival nightmare of "Drown Gently, My Daughters" and the warped acoustic crawl of "A Monk and A Butcher".
Focused on sinewy despair drifting inward from all directions, VVV is rich in layers and textural detail, creating heaviness with atmosphere, unpredictability, and cleverly articulated tales of bent philosophy. "The Freest Man" begins with a detached mist and ominous chanting, diverging into gentle lo-fi acoustics that retain every last feeling of unease. Only as the song devolves into a deconstructed surge of rattling pianos and scuzzy noise does the tension subside in cathartic release. Vincent Vocoder Voice's sea-sickening vibes are as radiant as ever. If all hope truly is lost, let this be your guide to the end-times.
Vincent Vocoder Voice's I, Too, Was Wrought With Love is out October 13th via Tipp City Records.