Victor! Fix The Sun

Person Place Or Thing

Written by: DR on 09/12/2009 18:49:00

The sheer awesomeness of Victor! Fix The Sun (henceforth known as just "Victor!") became apparent to me when I noticed that they are La Dispute's top "similar artist" on Last.fm, so when they appeared in the promo list I was practically giddy. Having the burden of such a tag Last.fm placed upon them certainly isn't an enviable one, especially as La Dispute's woe-is-me approach to post-punk seems to be the hottest thing on the circuit at the moment, but if Victor! can amount to within a fraction of such brilliance then they will have one hell of a future ahead of them.

So, do they amount to within a fraction of La Dispute's brilliance? Yes. And then some. And then some more. Although I love La Dispute, and they are brilliant, a large chunk of their appeal is the poetical lyrics and how the melodramatic vocals of Jordan Dreyer bring them to life (not to take anything away from the rest of the band). Victor!, though not up to such a standard yet, have a much more rounded charm; you're going to listen to these for everything: the angst-fueled strained screams of Ryan Martin and Patrick Boylan, the ability to build song-structures that last up to seven minutes long yet feel as though they've only lasted one minute, the sheer passion that seeps from their music, the unwillingness to conform within one genre and their general disregard of musical conventions.

La Dispute aside, elements of Bear vs Shark, At The Drive-In, mewithoutYou and even "Son I Loved You At Your Darkest"-era As Cities Burn are apparent. Hell, even post-rock! Which is an impressive list of influences to have, all the more impressive when considered that Victor! are able to create songs that lean upon the unconventional and edgy style of those aforementioned acts with just three band members. At all times they have a striking balance between the aggressive and the melodic. Take "We Come From The Northwoods" as an example, while the instruments are throwing out huge melodic riffs there's a vocal assault that maintains the balance. They make every scream, shout and squall sound like a confrontation headed for your face. It's fantastic.

Along with said balance, the diversity and lack of self-pigeonholing can account for a lot of their appeal. Not just fans of post-punk and post-hardcore (not the fringey kind) will take to this band's flair for in-your-face rock, when you also throw the swagger that the riffs don into the mix, you have something potentially really special. Give Victor! Fix The Sun a chance, they might just become your new favourite band.

8

Download: My Friend The Guru, We Come From The Northwoods, Person Place Or Thing
For Fans of: La Dispute, Bear vs Shark, mewithoutYou, At The Drive-In
Listen: Myspace

Release Date 20.10.2009
Friction Records

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