Vaux – Plague Music / 2004 Atlantic / 5 Tracks / http://www.equalvision.com / http://www.vauxrock.com / Reviewed 22 January 2005

I remember when I first played Vaux (their “14 Years” cover off the Bring You To Your Knees compilation) on my radio show. I pronounced it Vough and got a nasty call saying that they were named Vox. That cover sucked, so I wasn’t expecting much from their “Plague Music” EP. Their style of music is hard to describe – it is immediately reminiscent of “Deliverance”-era Corrosion of Conformity, early Marilyn Manson (especially Quentin’s vocals), and Iron Maiden-style guitars. I guess that puts them as a hardcore band, but I’m not very good with my labels (my buddy John from Deadwillrise can attest to that). The mastering on “Plague Music” is a little suspect, as the beginning track, “Celibate Good Times” has a distortion that detracts heavily from both the vocals and guitars on the tracks. “RAID!” opens up a little more clearly, but again struggles underneath the incredible amount of distortion to be found. The very radio-friendly sound of “Plague Music” will ensure that a great number of individuals will pick up this EP, but I feel that the disc stands up remarkably well on its own. The arrangements are Muse-like, the intensity sincere, and the tracks are fairly strong.

The double-vocal assault found on the beginning of “Dearest Darkest”, showing a greater cohesion than had been the case on the rest of “Plague Music” is just one of the high points reached on this hump track. Vaux approaches the track with a little more Tool in mind than in the previous few tracks, and their work in masterfully controlling the tempo, allowing it to almost stop during the track, shows a maturity that belies their youth. “Sex Will Happen Tonight’s” opening made me go through all my internet explorer windows and make sure no websites were playing another band’s music – the Middle-Eastern feel of the keyboards in the track are again similar to Marilyn Manson (this time the Sweet Dreams-era) and Quentin’s vocals achieve a Billy Corgan-like aura.

Vaux had an off-day with their cover of “14 Years”. As that was the only thing I had heard from them before this disc, I had a little bit of a skewed perception about the band. “Plague Music” is fairly innovative for an Atlantic release (even if it is on the much-lauded Equal Vision label), and I would really love to heard a full-length from Vaux. They are able to keep a high level of energy throughout this EP, but I’m not sure what new gimmicks and tricks they could pull out on a disc that would be twice Plague Music’s length.

Top Tracks: Plague Music

Rating: 7.0/10