The members of Vision Through Sound are an intelligent bunch of freaks, which they prove on this compilation of early recordings, the "Dead Band Sampler!"
Freaky vocals, group chants, screams that might be cries for help, and female harmonies wrap around some of the most thought-provoking and mindful lyrics that songwriters Andrew Krolikowski and Franny Berkman have ever written: “Po-Tee-Weet?” is the band’s heaviest, angriest song to date, drenched in political bits that comment on society at large; the zombies and magic tricks that surface in “Abra” meditate on the meaning of decrepit romantic relationships; meanwhile, all tracks are soaked in the dark evidence that these guys have spent a lot of time in their heads, at the library, reading a whole lot of Vonnegut.
But the sampler is a far throw from a downer: Krolikowski’s uplifting, trademark vocals return and take center stage, peeking in and out of Fran Berkman and Mike McManus’s melodic, memorable guitar riffs and bass lines (part psychedelic/dance/funk, part Nirvana/Pixies/Pumpkins) that seem to sometimes fight for the spotlight, all while the three run full speed ahead, away from Mike Sarna’s fast-driving drums. Cameos from Fortune & Spirits members Michelle Kovacs and Chris Fleming on trumpet, flute, violin, and cello, layered over other various accompanists on bird flute, Theremin, xylophone, bells, clapping, grunting, and general freakishness, make for some of the most epic, crazed instrumentals ever to surface from VTS.
“Missionary Men” is undeniably the compilation’s defining track, a representation of the band’s ability to take a dark, terrible situation and turn it into an intelligent dance song.
“I feel that [Missionary Men] defines us as a band,” says Krolikowski. “This song is an attempt to mobilize those who have had horrible things happen to them; to look atrocity in the eye and laugh, but not mindlessly—always being aware of it, but also being aware of the power of the human spirit to be able to overcome these things. I have lost my faith in a lot of things, but this song is a reflection of my faith in the power of music, and even though a song can’t single handedly right all of the wrongs in the world, it can hopefully at least bring people together to give living an enjoyable life a try.”
Though the compilation is the last of the songwriting and skills that Sarna and Berkman both have contributed through the years, (perhaps the reason for the band’s self-proclaimed “death”), both Berkman and Krolikowski's lyricism are undoubtedly the band’s biggest evolution and this body of work’s biggest accomplishment, keeping spirits high that there will be reincarnation and several years of future lives for Vision Through Sound.
In light of the release of VTS’s sixth album These Things Happen…
the band has compiled 23 songs spanning from their past five albums to create the Dead Band Sampler! All tracks were recorded between 2003 and 2008. Dinosaurs in Vietnam is proud to make it available for free download here on BandCamp. Hope you enjoy it!
- LP