Viva Voce's Rose City

This is one of 10 reasons Viva Voce's Rose City is one of my favorite albums of this year's banner crop of solid releases. Die A Little could be a track from Beck's Modern Guilt, spared the Danger Mouse production, and with approximately 150 percent more lean, hard muscle, and drums that are not only present, they're the attack. Between their last (and also excellent) album and this one,the band grew from a pair to a foursome, and so they have some new tricks - there's some cutting piano dissonance and echoes of Drugstore in Midnight Sun's vocal harmonies, and subtle hints of new-school Brazil in Flora. Still, the songs get their strength from Anita's guitar and Kevin's beats, most pronounced in Devotion, Die A Little, and Rose City. Oh, and let me not forget the hooks, which end up filling every nook of the brain. This ain't your twee teen's indie.


Viva Voce - Die A Little (mp3)
Viva Voce - Devotion (mp3)