The last time Vladimir were being featured on Music Review
Database, they had just finished up touring with the likes of Catfish and The
Bottlemen and The Twilight Sad - now they have London in their sights supporting none
other than The Fall. Yeah, The Fall are one of MRD's most lauded artists to
distort through the post-punk passage of time, so excuse me, but if
supporting The Fall doesn't refer to 'making it', then nothing will. This
is a Dundee band enriched within the local music scene, but not confined to Scotland.
Sell out shows at King Tuts is something to have on your CV, but playing with
The Fall is a whole different ball park. It's not as if Vladimir are undeserved of this either, they've proven to be a reputable live act (so my sauces say,) and
their recorded material only seems to be getting better.
"In My Head" sounds like a bleaker version of British
indie rock bands circa 2006. Putting a definitive comparison to a specific song
or band from this period is difficult, but the sort of Bloc Party
"Helicopter" style of rock, just slower, sadder, and grittier. You
wouldn't put "In My Head" to a video compilation on Google Videos of 'football down
the park' as you would with "Helicopter", this is much more serious. There
are more aspects to Vladimir's sound on "In My Head" compared to
their earlier recordings. Their version of Underworld's "Born Slippy
.NUXX" was almost unrecognisable if it wasn't for the opening lyrics. It's
a noise rock guitarathon of distortion and improvisation, not quite the
formulaic sounds of "In My Head" - a three minute pop song in the
indie rock fashion. Here's where we find Vladimir's redeeming features: warm percussion produced well with varying effects with raw sounds, alike the
vocals which at times sound Tom Meighan-esque, but often revealing a more
sinister Julian Casablancas; confirming that there's certainly more to come from Vladimir.
~Eddie Gibson
