Victory at Sea – All Your Things Are Gone / 2006 Gern Blandsten / 10 Tracks / http://www.victoryatsea.net / http://www.gernblandsten.com / Reviewed 25 February 2006

Even though Victory at Sea should be categorized as an indie rock band, tracks that open up “All Your Things Are Gone”, especially “No Reason To Stay” show that the band has a heavier side of influences than they would tend to show. “No Reason To Stay” has a hint – a note, if you will of Led Zeppelin, especially the band’s classic “Stairway to Heaven”. The arrangements that Victory at Sea create for songs “Bored Otherwise” are simply fantastic; the band works at one level together (what individuals hear as the music itself) while the constituent parts of the band work alone and in small groups to make the landscape more diverse.

“The Letter” brings this full sound one step further, as the band adds a dissonance caused by the band working together to their bag of tricks. Everything on “All Your Things Are Gone” are so beyond bar chords and 1-2-3-4 time signatures that it is not funny. If one was to compare Victory at Sea to both classical and current music, chances are that individuals would typically tie Victory to Sea to the former due to the complexity of their arrangements and the always-full sound of each song as “All Your Things Are Gone”. It is not only the music that will really impress listeners during the disc but how Victory at Sea really affects listeners’ emotion through the use of dramatic tension. There is nowhere more showing of that fact than “Four Leaf Clover”.

The shuffling beat of “To You And Me” really creates a scene for listeners; an individual is walking down the street while the piano and the drum beat act respectively like pedestrians and cars. Aside from being modern works of art, Victory at Sea’s tracks work admirably well as songs one can just put on and float away in the sweet melodies. Ten tracks later, Victory at Sea have taken their listeners on a trip through a number of brash, loud and intricate tracks that will enervate and energize listeners all at the same time. At no point during this disc do Victory at Sea show any signs of weakness; each song shows a different approach, a different set of inputs and a completely different output by the band. All individuals need to do is listen to “The Party” and one will know that Victory at Sea is easily the equivalent to acts like Bright Eyes in terms of sheer talent and ability.

Top Tracks: the Party, Cecille

Rating: 7.2/10

[JMcQ]