The Voidz - Virtue (Album Review)

 

The Voidz - Virtue

(2018)


My copy: 2018 press by RCA and Cult Records.


Seemingly taking criticisms for their debut to heart, The Voidz returned with a new record in 2018, now seeing Julian Casablancas committed as a full, official member. Where Tyranny was structurally and sonically ambitious to the point of overextension at times, Virtue opts for restraint (capping songs at 3-5 minutes generally); working with more instantly gratifying, conventional melodies.

“Leave It In My Dreams” is perhaps the ultimate example of their new focus on light indie-pop, feeling only a degree or two from something Casablancas would pen with The Strokes. Second single “Qyurryus” then pushes back against conventional indie-rock with an uncharacteristically electronic (specifically vaguely dubstep) influence that is pitted against rising middle eastern melodies with auto-tuned falsetto - this new sound feeling bolder and more fit for their now shorter structures. Hard-rocking “Pyramid Of Bones” funnels the heavier side of Tyranny through classic rock/metal flavors, with less obscured political lyrics (some well-written, some too obvious).

Mellow cuts “Permanent High School” and “ALieNNatioN” boast catchy, moody synth motifs with the latter containing the more impactful grooves of the two. The leering goth-punk attitude of “One Of The Ones” makes for an interesting genre snapshot, even facing a melodic identity crisis in the middle of its short 2-and-a-half-minute runtime. The Voidz are now working mini-experiments into short songs with surgical accuracy: avoiding the longer formats of the past in favor of colorfully brief genre fusions. The issue is still in regards to over-indulgence, as the record is packed with these shorter songs, including some less memorable additions (the respectfully lowkey but unimpressive Caribbean touches of “All Wordz Are Made Up” or the modern update on Michael Cassidy’s “Think Before You Drink”).

The industrial-meets-Ariel Pink style of “Wink” feels refreshingly original, with meek verses and powerful choruses leading one to believe that Casablancas has mastered the art of the faux-blasé alt singer; and this is a compliment, as not many indie frontmen can work a simultaneous sense of disinterest and tense emotion quite like Casablancas. “My Friend The Walls” pulls Queen-ish vocal harmonies into a dark pit of spacey dissonance, honing in only for the chorus. The bass takes the show on the relaxed runway strut of “Pink Ocean” before the Chrome-ian cyber-post-punk slamming of “Black Hole.” There are gravitational vocal melodies, and a clever guitar solo on “Lazy Boy” but much of the sequencing seems incoherent at this point, as the album begins to feel more like a collection of unrelated ideas, furthered by the abrasive punk edge of “We’re Where We Were.” “Pointlessness” rounds out the album, and develops nicely into one of Casablancas’s most potent emotional performances yet, channeling the core essence of “Human Sadness” into a smaller, more elegant package. 

The Voidz feel like one of the last big bands standing confidently at the forefront of rock music, and Casablancas clearly is at home building something deeper and more forward-thinking upon the foundation that he once laid with The Strokes. While Tyranny is a personal preference for its enterprising use of layering and underrated structural choices, Virtue is an enthralling endeavor for those who prefer rock without what some critics would label as chaff. Tyranny is what you seek for a comprehensive, engrossing experience and Virtue is what you seek for a demonstration of melodic range and cross-genre competence - an indie-rock variety pack of sorts. 


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