ALBUM REVIEW: Bad Veins- The Mess We’ve Made

Following the success of their self titled debut album, all the way back in 2009, Ohio indie duo Bad Veins are back with a second album The Mess We’ve Made, along with their questionable outfits.

The band’s debut album caused quite a stir, primarily with online blogs such as ABC’s Amplified section who placed the record as the 7^th bestselling album of 2009, and the use of the tracks within films and popular TV shows, mainly in America. A notable appreciation for the album came when Gold and Warm was played on the Your Three Words segment of American breakfast show Good Morning America in 2010, and also became the official soundtrack to blockbuster film Chronicle. What is more interesting though, is the fact that live, the duo’s performance includes a reel to reel machine named Irene, a bedside table, a telephone sometimes replacing the microphone, and army uniforms.

Having toured with the likes of Frightened Rabbit, Two Door Cinema Club, and We Were Promised Jetpacks, amongst other such indie hierarchy, the duo has proven that they have successfully instilled themselves amongst all things Indie, and delightfully alternative.

While singer, writer, guitarist, and keyboard player Benjamin Davis’ throaty vocals sound strikingly similar to those of The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas, and The Bravery’s Sam Endicott the music has a more playful, air conditioned effect, with the emphasis on strings mostly overlooking the growls of the guitar.

Don’t Run, the first single Bad Veins plan to release from this album, opens the album with happy, folk like strings, before the guitar introduces the less than happy lyrics, with a fitting link to the albums name, Davis begs “Don’t run, I know it’s harder to stay, there is no easier way, to face the mess we’ve made” as the drums plod along beneath the orchestral exercises.

Nursery Rhyme is guided by a simmering bass guitar, as the song blossoms into bloom, angelic vocals, a harp, and Bad Veins’ reassuring violins make an appearance. The almost childish lyrics leave a little to the imagination, with an opening like “Some people say you should sleep when you’re dead but I kinda like the world that’s in my head” the easily understood words fit perfectly into the jigsaw of these elastic tracks.

Dancing On TV pays more attention to the drums, as Sebastien Schultz builds up to the catchy chorus with a glittering shower of cymbals along with the colourful screeches of the guitars, with the verses buttered with tiny footsteps of synths, upon helplessly unrequited lyrics.

Bad Veins could be the result of what would happen if you crossed the eccentricities of Patrick Wolf with the aforementioned vocals of Julian Casablancas, and sprinkled this with a little dab of camp, Brandon Flowers inspired, stage decoration.

The Mess We’ve Made is due to be released on July 9^th through independent UK record label Heist or Hit, although, we can’t help but think that it is still overshadowed by their previous album.