This is an Aggressively Great Album
Diane Mcgough | Lake Oswego, OR | 01/27/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This band is made up of five members and three of them play keyboards, so you can tell they're going to be a touch on the synthetic side of music styles and in their case is a synth/punk kind of style. VCR is punk rock with the simple substitution of keyboards for guitars. The drummer and bassist lay down a strong backing leaving plenty of room for the keyboardist to work their magic and the do so very aggressively as keyboardist Chad Middleton doubles as lead singer with a deep, and dare I say it again, aggressive sound, which is often akin to a growl. Their short, punk rock songs are filled with the energy and intensity of their live sound. This is a great album."
Try it even if you think you won't like it
redefine magazine | seattle, wa | 12/08/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"There are tons of bands mining Gang of Fourish `80s dance punk territory at the moment, and yet, most downplay the punk factor in that equation. Bad move. I don't want to come to your scenester disco, but if I was so inclined, there'd better at least be some substance lurking somewhere in the periphery. Which is the main problem I have with a lot of these retro outfits now sprouting up like rhubarb in summer (although I have no idea when rhubarb is in season).
What I do know is that VCR jam. They've got a certain energy that can't be contained and that propels them above much of this apparently seasonal crop. Most of this disc is pretty fast and the dude's spouting off rapid fire the entire time, slyly mixing in some hooks here and there. I have no idea what he's saying, but it's pretty much irrelevant. Listen up singers: if you're going to write crappy lyrics, at least make them unintelligible. You think I care what Converge is singing about? Not really. Nor do I care with VCR, but I'm glad they sound kind of pissed, or is that crazed?
Oh, and their keyboard player's a dynamo. A lot of this disc kind of seems like an exercise in synth-wanking. At first, I thought they could use a guitar, but that subsided. This guy can carry them. I don't know what else I can say. It's pretty cool. You should check it out whether you're into this kind of stuff or not.
- JOHN GILLANDERS"