Music Review: Van She "V"

Everything old becomes new again. It seems like we constantly mock the styles and fashions of the decade past, but honor those of the decade before as even cooler than we realized at the time. When I was a kid in the late 80's the 60's were cool, and the 70's were considered an atrocity on all that was good and pure. In the 90's, movies like Dazed and Confused and Boogie Nights and shows like, well, That 70's Show, hit their stride, and it became okay to admit disco was actually kind of kind of fun.

In the past few years even the darkest corners of 80's fashion has gone from lame to de rigeur, with Girl Talk lacing southern rap with shades of shocking Miami Vice pink. There's also been an upsurge in bands that use sythesizers to back up the standard drums/bass/guitar lineup, creating a type of synthpop reminiscent of Depeche Mode, Human League or New Order.

Which brings me to Van She. I had always known Van She as a techno remix outfit, as you can hear in the video above (They also did this great remix of the Klaxon's "Gravity's Rainbow"). I was surprised to discover that by day they're actually a pretty typical band from Australia, complete with drummer, guitarist and lead singer. It's really not bad at all. I like their new album V better than anything by the Klaxons. While they still don't have a big hit on their hands that really distinguishes them from the crowd, their music is remarkably consistent and will grow on you. A video tour-

Kelly, their first single. Very 80's.


The Cat and the Eye. Not my favorite song by them, but you can see why the label made it the single.


These are the tracks with videos, but I like them best when they lace the sugar pop with a snarl. Check out "It could be the Same" on the album, a blistering indie-rock number backed by overdriven synthesizers.