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The Vat Egg Imposition: Shop Tones – album review

The Vat Egg Imposition: Shop Tones (Alphaville Records) Cassette/ DL Out Now! BUY HERE   Andy Brown listens to Shop Tones, the debut album by Leeds indiepop eccentrics The Vat Egg Imposition. He shares his thoughts for Louder Than War. Reaching into the songwriter’s toolbox and rifling through the usual subjects, does the average wordsmith […]

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Vat Egg Imposition Shop Tones COVER The Vat Egg Imposition: Shop Tones

(Alphaville Records)

Cassette/ DL

Out Now!

BUY HERE

The Vat Egg Imposition: Shop Tones – album review

Andy Brown listens to Shop Tones, the debut album by Leeds indiepop eccentrics The Vat Egg Imposition. He shares his thoughts for Louder Than War.

Reaching into the songwriter’s toolbox and rifling through the usual subjects, does the average wordsmith ever pine for something new? I mean, there are quite a few songs about heartbreak and nights out, right? Now and then, wouldn’t you like to hear something a little more unexpected? Shop Tones, the debut album by The Vat Egg Imposition, is crammed full of songs about crisps, cannibals, marmite and precious green mugs. The songs are sung by the eponymous Vat Egg, a mysterious man dressed as a large, presumably hard-boiled, egg. I apologise in advance for the egg-based puns that will inevitably follow but you really need to hear about this album.

The tone is set from the start with the exhilarating rock ‘n’ roll confessional, I Leave My Comics In Waterstones. As the title suggests, the song finds our unlikely hero stashing his homemade comics between the shelves at his local book shop. “I don’t actually have time to make my comics myself/ so I license my life story out to somebody else” sings our intrepid Egg as he reveals a twist in the tale, “and it’s him who writes and draws and arranges printing over the phones/ all I have to do is leave my comics in Waterstones”. This gratifying tale of guerrilla publishing is delivered over an egg-citing (there’s the first one, sorry) indiepop tune fuelled by guitar, bass, drums and insistently catchy keyboard licks.

In The Sheriff Of Nottingham we hear about the hapless Sherriff’s plans for Robin Hood, his woe over his ex-partner Maid Marion and his nefarious pastimes and interests (predominantly, being loved and feared and stroking his beard). 2 minutes and 46 seconds of unabashedly fun indiepop. I Bought You Crisps provides one of the album’s highlights. A tale of betrayal and the aforementioned salty snacks. Imagine a more snack-orientated David Gedge and you’re halfway there. A cautionary tale about a one-time friend who would probably sell his Grandma, “for a packet of Monster Munch”. Like much of Shop Tones, it’s an insanely addictive earworm that will be bouncing around your noggin for years to come.

Shop Tones feels like an indiepop album for sure yet one that’s brimming with psychedelic garage rock and post-punk influences. The band delivers personality and musicianship in spades with gang backing vocals, tight drums and crazily catchy bass lines, guitar parts and keyboard melodies. Having seen the band open for Jeffrey Lewis, I can certainly verify their skills as a live entity too. I can hear the spirit of the Buzzcocks; short, well-observed songs bursting with an abundance of wit and melody. The album has a relentlessly entertaining momentum with the eggs-uberant garage-rock of Cannibals of Aberystwyth clocking in at a mere 26 seconds long. The Vat Egg Imposition aren’t here to mess around. The laid-back and effortlessly cool groove of Don’t Slag Off Neil Burrell comes next and contrasts brilliantly with the furiously paced and suitably bizarre, I’m A Turtle.

Alone In Music contains the kind of heart-racing chorus destined to be yelled back at the band by an ever-growing fanbase. Honestly, it’s one of the most exciting songs you’ll hear all year. A song about music itself that can’t help but hit a nerve with any self-confessed music obsessive. Oh, and there’s even a solo performed entirely by Vat Egg making guitar noises into the microphone. If you’re not smiling like a lunatic by this point, maybe you need to turn it up a little. Get My Green Mug Back Again is a brilliantly breezy ode to a beloved lost mug. Lent to a neighbour yet never returned. “It’s not like I want the sugar back/ or to steal their new TV or anything” sings our distraught protagonist, “I just want to get my green mug back again”.

Safe In The North is a compulsively catchy foot-stomper about the mutual misunderstandings around the supposed North/ South divide. “Up here we don’t have jukebox musicals about our Northern bands like Shed Seven/ or knife crime/ or those croissants that look like doughnuts/ or more than 12 people in a place at any one time” muses Vat Egg before adding, “But we’ve got canals here/ and Ian Brown’s here/ and we all like it here/ ‘cos we don’t know any better”. Kicking against the cliches of a ‘grim North’ where we’re all “drowning in gravy”. Snacks make a return with Last Rubicon Mango From Paris: a track about sugar tax and a holiday encounter with a sacred soft drink. Crammed with addictive hooks, sci-fi synths and absolutely zero artificial sweeteners. This is pure indiepop joy in a can!

You Don’t Understand Marmite sounds like an amalgamation of Howard Devoto and Frank Sidebottom. This is the kind of track you’d hear on one of those Rough Trade post-punk compilations and wonder how on Earth it wasn’t a massive, world-conquering hit. The album comes to a close with The Lion’s Mighty Roar. A mysterious and suitably intriguing way to wrap things up. Clocking in at around 35 minutes, Shop Tones is a wonderfully creative debut without an inch of flab. Unlike the aforementioned Yeast extract spread, the album should really be loved by all those lucky enough to hear it. An immensely fun listen and a reminder, in these increasingly stressful times, not to take yourself too seriously. My advice? You should go and get one.

~

You can find The Vat Egg Imposition on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.

Artwork by Garold Barold.

All words by Andy Brown. You can visit his author profile and read more of his reviews for Louder Than War here.

Source: louderthanwar.com

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