Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Australia’s classic rock history is written in stone, it is an immoveable fact that the country has produced groups that are not only fascinating and vibrant, but are to be seen as the foundation of a society that grasps the notion of diversity as a strength, not as a lip service of appeasement, and in the fires continually serviced by stone keepers and ‘Rocksmiths’ drenched in sweat and powerful musicianship, the serving up The Vendettas as they release their new album, Who’s Who In The Zoo, is yet another layer of proof that the muscle of the genre is still going strong, flourishing, and out to show no mercy to the naysayers and demonstrative pessimists.
There is no time for negativity, no sense of entertaining those with defeatist hearts, rock culture is the yardstick of truth of human nature and thought, and when we face the menagerie of expression, we must find that one guide who can drive us past the dull and the unimpressive and lead us to the exotic and the rare; and rare is the summing up of The Vendettas, for their passion is up there with for example early AC/DC, their music as intriguing as Midnight Oil, and their possibility, despite the difference in musical style, is as intimate as The Seekers.
It is in the relentless aggression that the band hold dear that gives the album its growl, its pressure of dynamic, and as tracks such as the opener Jealous and Evil, and through tracks such as This Time Around, Lovesick Man, Fly On The Wall, and the finale of Raise The Weary, the feel of the punch on the senses is akin to an onslaught, firm, direct, but also tempered by a cool reserve, a knowledge that there is still room to grow, to be seen as the national expression as they push their boundaries, and refuse to settle for second best.
To be in a time when such bands can communicate to a wider audience is to be in the best of times, and The Vendettas have approached it with style, with a roar, and with force.
The Vendettas release Who’s Who In The Zoo via Golden Robot Records on August 15th.
Ian D. Hall