by Layton Guyton
The recent self-titled album by Atlanta band Vangas is a punishing and relentless record. From the first moments of “Chromatic Ascending” to the closing “The Handstand (Pt. 2),” there’s little room to breathe as the band tunnels through a hole of noise for 35 minutes, dragging you along amid some of the year’s most exciting noise rock.
At times the album sounds like you’ve locked this band out of your house and they’re trying to break down your door with the sounds of their instruments alone. Metallic guitars slash through the mix like power tools while industrial grade bass and drums pound out machinelike rhythms. Piano and bass clarinet add to the sonic assault at various times. Melodies appear momentarily, such as the keys at the end of “Waltz in E Minor,” but are quickly consumed in the explosiveness of the full band. For much of the album, their instruments combine into a singular energetic force, inextricable, aggressive, and commanding. Vocalist Christian Touchet is a driving force throughout. He sounds possessed by whatever sounds the band is making, slurring his way through “I’ve been good /I’ve been bad/ I’ve been good/I’ve been bad” as the band simmers on the verse of the sadist “Dog Walker,” while exploding on the chorus of “Every Day Is The Same.”
Vangas aren’t just making noise for the sake of noise: compositionally their songs are compelling and the band is airtight. Digging through Vangas’ youtube channel (highly recommended, watch the full length video for their 2019 album Facial Tissue), there are many different live versions of these songs floating around; it’s clear these guys have been improvising together for a long time and honing these tracks for years. “Everyday is the Same,” “Sandstone,” “Waltz in E Minor,” and “Dog Walker” were all released in 2020, and originally engineered by the band, but have been remixed and mastered to their most potent by Dan Dixon (Dropsonic, PLSPLS) for this release. The new mixes serve the tracks well. Anyone who was already a fan of these songs will definitely want to hear them in their clearest, most hard hitting forms. Keep an ear out for future work from Vangas, you will certainly hear them coming.