Artist: Wampire
Title: Curiosity
Genre: Indie / Pop
Release Date: 13th May 2013
Label: Polyvinyl
Review Flash
So I’m bopping along to ‘Ever Fallen In Love...’ and I find myself thinking “wait, the lyric aren’t right”, and then I realise it’s actually not a cover, but an original song called ‘I Can’t See Why’. And thinking about it, nor can I - see why they bothered, that is. To unpack things a bit, it’s obvious WAMPIRE know how to pen a catchy tune - or, more accurately, have keen ear for a catchy tune to appropriate from. This may explain why there’s a distinctly CURE-esque vibe to the spiralling opener, ‘The Hearse’, while the shuffling indie-salsa mash-up of ‘Orchards’ hints at The Specials’ ‘Ghost Town’ on drugs, but that’s no good thing as it’s rather frustrating and messy. The gorky, dorky lo-fi buzz of ‘Giants’ skips along pleasantly enough but with a melody that just bounces along without a hint of imagination and a snare drum that sounds like a Rice Krispy popping, it’s high on the irritant factor, the kerrrayzeeee middle weight sounding forced rather than inspired.
Conclusion: Good fun and with no shortage of catchy bits, but sadly the sum isn’t greater than the (stolen) parts.
Rating: 5 / 10
