Gospel Bombs - Vincent Vincent and the Villains

There’s never been a more apt name for a debut album than ‘Gospel Bombs’ - because Vincent Vincent’s debut record is literally a Blitz. Whether they’re covering melancholy odes to lost love, romanticized rhymes or just singing about a bunch of pretty girls, the album is packed with promise and identity. Lying somewhere between Mick ‘I can’t believe it’s not Collagen’ Jaggers’ lips, and Elvis’ heavily gelled quiff, this band have had a long wait to unleash their classic rock influences upon industry biggies EMI. That’s not to say all is traditional here though; their sparks of musical influence range from Flamenco to Africa, and it certainly gives depth to rock n roll.
The love affair with rock and roll this band have is charming...There isn’t a track more dominating than the opener ‘Beast’, which features boisterous vocals about love gone by. Vincent’s domineering singing doesn’t detract from the powerful rhythms this song brings forward, or it‘s self deprecating lyrics; ‘With all my mind / I try to find / But it keeps me so paranoid’. This capricious album’s skill lies in it’s ability to shuffle your mood as often as it shuffles it‘s genres, like an all you can eat musical buffet. What’s your pleasure sir? Some whimsical doowop with a side order of blissful glee? See ‘Sweet Girlfriend’. Or would sir prefer something more bittersweet and with a touch of Spanish chorus line rhythms? I would recommend ‘Jealousy and Bitterness’. It appears that every song has been injected with an essence of soul and calibre, especially the intensifying ‘Cinema’ with it’s smoothest of smooth vocals and mystifying lyrics: “I see the ghost of two lovers in the back row kissing / The light flickers, the projector reels hissing / In the foy they gathered to come in / The show ladies and gentlemen is about to begin!” Overall what makes the album suave and sexy is it’s thirst for good old fashioned dirty rock and roll. The love affair with rock and roll this band have is charming, but they’re still twisting and moulding it with their sly fingertips. Take care when you’re listening to this album, because its more than just a few gospel bombs; Vincent Vincent and the Villains have produced a minefield.


Sophie Hall
WRITTEN FOR ARTROCKER.COM