If relaxing was the goal of the Vive La Void in their debut release, Vive La Void, mission accomplished. Led by Senae Yamada, often seen by psychedelic fans in rock band Moon Duo, and like Moon Duo, the best songs on here are very bold, but dissimilarly also very airy sounding, with a unique feminist guild of vocals which are both artsy, simple, and darkly touching. This is not just taking the classic indie-alternative vibe and injecting a woman’s side.
In “Red Riding”, the first single, it is also adding some real meditation and relaxing instrumental landscapes with a sense of purpose. Out May 2nd, and amazingly stoner rock-ish with glaringly edgy guitar and female vocals, which while not exactly reminiscent of Moon Duo, is perfect, modern, and edgy rock.
While Senae becomes a darker and more surreal musician, this mostly works. The other single and intro “Matter”, is a fine lead-in track. However, songs like “Matter” and “Smoke” are so simple, they come off as cheap and underwhelming. After “Red Rider” in a spiritual sense is the psychedelic, “Devil”, and the meditative “Atlantis”. “Death Money” as well is very trance-like and rhythm-heavy, creating a nice mood. Even “Blacktop” is moving if the listener gets all the way through it.
It could be said that all of the seven tracks on the Vive La Void self-titled first effort are mood setters. It just seems Vive La Void could have been greater than sharp musicianship in stoner rock.
