Feral. RVG

Listening to Feral for the first time, I thought it to be the new album of or new band of ... I can't think of the name for some reason. The voice however sounds so familiar. From quite some time back and sounding too young to be that new band.

RVG has the ability to rock fiercely and still sounding light as if 'Alexandra' is not an indie rock song. Because it is. The song has that desperation in it that can make an indie rock song so extremely good. A touch of things taking a turn for the worst, while in the music still some lightness hovers, that signal things may not be as bad as they seem.

Suede played with a lot more pathos when it started. It's first album comes to mind, while some Johnny Marr guitar techniques have not gone by unnoticed. So in sound RVG is British. So let me look up Feral, because it would not be the first time I am listening to an album that is 30 years old. A long lost gem of U.K. alternative 80s rock.

Pfew, RVG is not "old", but not from the U.K. The band is from Melbourne in Australia and totally influenced by Australian and U.K. 80s alternative rock. The first nearly totally passed me by at the time, the second certainly did not. The mix is enticing. If the music from Australia at the time was this good, perhaps I have some back-paddling to do.

RVG recorded with Victor van Vugt behind the recording console. A name I haven't run across for some time. He helped produce an album with an incredibly light touch. The guitars sound high with some light reverb added. Singer Romy Vager is able to lay her (please excuse me for writing his first) sneery voice over the music, giving the music a streetwise attitude. A good example to listen to is 'Help Somebody'. Several guitars play themselves out over the bass and drums that are more functional than prominent. At the end a guitar like an electric saw enters the whole, varying in badness. Vager sings her lyrics with a punky tone, without overdoing it. 'Prima Donna' is not the strongest song on the album, at first, but has a great ending. The intro to the next song, 'Perfect Day', continues that level immediately. The songs make for variation securing the album the attention it deserves.

I find I am very much attracted to this mix. In a way I am surprised because I also hear influence like Lloyd Cole & the Commotions, a band I just not liked for more than two songs and even them not extremely. The same goes for The Smiths. I still can't listen to more than three, four songs tops in a row. By contrast, RVG does not pose a challenge for me at all. Why? A good question. The answer will have to wait until I know the album a lot better, sure, but I am sure it has to do with following two things. The songs, at least to me, are better, where the likes of Lloyd Cole are concerned, less so for The Smiths. Here the absence of the always on the point of bursting into tears voice of Morrissey certainly helps.

It seems like Feral is off to a good start with me. I'm truly looking forward for the album to grow on me some more.

Wo.

You can listen to and buy Feral here:

https://rvgband.bandcamp.com/album/feral


or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g