Good Weather For Airstrikes

It’s with regret that I present to you “Whatever You Want From Life” not in the sunny ebullience of Springtime, but in the waning light of fall, as it’s the fairer season that provides the perfect environment for this song to be experienced, but it was 75 degrees in Charlottesville today and it’s always better late than never when it comes to these kind of things. Straight outta Amsterdam, guitar-rock power trio Voicst serve up a hefty slice of exuberant punk-based rock with their debut single, “Whatever You Want From Life”, and while the ideal climate within which to take in the track may have passed a few months ago, it’s never really too late to enjoy a good pop song. I tend to try to shy away from the overused Recommended If You Like writer’s cructch, but such a lazy technique may never have been more appropriate than here in regards to Voicst’s aping of everything that makes Ted Leo & The Pharmacists great. Guitar/bass/percussion trio? Check. Irresistably catchy, falsetto-tinged vocals? Check. Sing-a-long choruses that make you want to frolic in sunny fields or drive at high speeds with the windows down? Check. Curiously hispanic-sounding vocal bridge? Well I guess that’s something Voicst has that Ted Leo and company lack, but you get the picture. Clearly, Voicst aren’t breaking any new creative ground or scoring many points for originality here, but if they set out to craft the perfect guitar-pop song they’ve pretty much succeeded on all accounts.

MP3: “Whatever You Want From Life” - Voicst ((highly recommended))

Voicst’s debut LP, 11-11, dropped in Europe last year but just hit American shores this past summer, and while it’s certainly hit or miss (”Porn”, one of the worsts songs of the year, is every bit as bad as “Whatever You Want From Life” is good, for example), it delivers punchy, catchy guitar rock in spades, as can be seen on stand out follow up single “Dazzled Kids”, available below as an added bonus mp3. And why not, I’ve included Ted Leo’s “Me and Mia” below for comparison’s sake as well.

Bonus MP3s:
“Dazzled Kids” - Voicst
“Me and Mia” - Ted Leo & The Pharmacists ((highly recommended))

ELSEWHERE: Today was a pretty big day for music videos, but I don’t even know why I’d attempt to cover it when Shots Ring Out (as always) has got that shit on lock. Michel Gondry’s new one for Beck’s “Cell Phone’s Dead” is ridiculously awesome (not like anyone would expect otherwise), and the Hold Steady’s new clip for “Chips Ahoy!”, which also surfaced today, is pretty great as well.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 19th, 2006 at 1:31 am and is filed under Single Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.