Search - Ghosts and Vodka :: Precious Blood

Surprise surprise

mike | Philadelphia, PA | 01/14/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I can't say I was shocked when I listened to a Victor Villareal related band and loved them upon first listen. I can say I was amazed at the amount of talent shown on this record. The first track is deceiving, displaying a soft, yet complex, yet relaxing acoustic number in the vein of the more mellow Joan of Arc recordings (another band Victor was involved with, for those who are new to this band...you should check them out too, by the way). However, this serves as merely an intro to a much more diverse and melodic instrumental wonderland, that is unleashed upon you right after the drums kick off track 2. This is just proof that instrumental bands can be just as deep as groups with vocals, as well as the fact that some bands can do much better without lyrics explaining anything. The guitar work on this album is like a firing squad, but its not all over the place. Its extremely melodic and flows quite nicely. There are an abundance of off-timing parts, but it all clicks. Fans of Joan of Arc, Owen, Cap'n Jazz, and other great Chicago area bands of the genre, take note. But chances are if you loved those bands, you know and love G&V already. New listeners be warned, the Precious Blood LP is extremely hard to find, and basically out of print, so unless you're lucky enough to find a copy collecting dust on a record store shelf one day, be aware that SixGunLover has recently re-relased this LP on a collection/discography entitled "Addicts and Drunks", which not only contains every song from Precious Blood, but also has a remastered verison of the long out of print EP, and as a special treat, a 4-track recording from one of their first practices. Its definitely available everywhere and the distribution for this record is much more generous than the last, and basically makes the LP obsolete in a way, unless you want it for the keepsake value. Anyway, you will not be disappointed with any material this short-lived band has released. Fear not of being easily bored with it either. I know a lot of people are iffy when it comes to instrumentals, but I guarantee you, the musicianship this band forks over will make you forget why you even need to hear someone sing. So quit scratching your head and staring at your monitor and order this album, pronto. Boo yah."

Phenomenal

mike | 04/17/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Victor's guitar work is simply (complexly) amazing. If you like cap'n jazz/AF/JOA/owls/promise ring/etc...check this out...definately one to have in collection if you are an emo guitarist and want some inspiration. The timing signatures are really great too, the drumming is awesome as in all the associated bands listed above...this recording didn't get a 5 because i think they should have had more of those awesome acoustic songs like andrea loves horses, and some diversity in recording and distortion styles (get a little repeatitive at times.) what's great about this CD also is i've found that it's complex enough to spend repeated listenings over for hours while beautiful enough in itself to simply function as background music while doing art or reading. OH yeah, and there are NO vocals just to warn those who don't know. This is a good and bad thing; it lacks the energy and emotion of cap'n jazz/owls, but focuses on the music, and most importantly; you can make up your own lyrics while driving down a boring highway -(just make sure you catch the timings right!) peace."