VETO - Crushing Digits
You've probably never heard of Scandinavian outfit VETO, but that's mainly because forthcoming album Crushing Digits will be their first ever release on these fair shores. An elegant mix of progressive rock and modern electronica, they're the self-proclaimed "biggest thing to come out of Denmark since Hans Christian Andersen."
Setting an edgy tone right from the start, Blackout strides in with the guts of Kasabian's Club Foot and the brooding intensity of The Chemical Brothers' Intergalactic. While melodies are linear and repetitive, most of the song's excitement comes from the relentless synthesised waffle that bounds around beneath.
Shake takes things up a notch tempo-wise with a complex syncopated rhythm played on what sounds an awful lot like dustbin lids. Guitars growl and strained voices wail giving the track a raw punk vibe, though at times the whole sound feels a little bit contrived and lacking any real energy.
With dreamy falsetto vocals and driving guitar riffs, Unite offers some Strokes-esque variety into the mix - there's still something missing though. As interesting as all the drum-bashing and synth-snarling bedlam is, things just never feel like they're quite getting off the ground. It's hard to lay a finger on it - VETO are musically tight and stylistically on target, but a certain sterility about the recorded sound that makes Crushing Digits feel barren and cold in places.
Having said all this, You Can't Afford It packs another knockout electro beat with some ear-scorching guitarplay that suddenly lifts the album to another level. It's unpredictable, unstoppable and really very cool. It's hard not to feel that this is the kind of action we've been waiting to see for the last thirty minutes.
Ending on a mellow, spaced-out note, closer Duck, Hush And Be Still leaves a slightly disappointing taste in the mouth. The whole album smacks of something that should've been incredible. There are enough good tunes but there's a certain something missing - an identity, a surprise element, it's impossible to say what until it's there. Until they properly find their feet in the UK, VETO will likely remain nothing more than just a poor man's Bloc Party.
Rating: 3/5
Skip To: You Can't Afford It
FemaleFirst - Anthony Hill