VALINA

Vagabond

LP/CD, Trost / Conspiracy

Second full length album of my favourite band which could bring these three boys from Linz, Upper Austria, the big boost in their careers, except that they don’t want it. They mix emo-core, noise- & post-rock and deconstruct it into their very own mix just because they want to and like it that way. They record in Chicago with Steve Albini because it just so happened that they met him and liked each other. They play the best concerts, technically perfect and with so much emotion, that you don’t ever want them to leave but to play every night for you and your friends. Isn’t that exactly how it should be done? Yes, it sure is.

The time is ripe, finally. For months I found excuse after excuse to write this review, mainly for two reasons: First, this record is really good – right there on top of any list I would compile for 2002 and maybe even 2003. Second, I am good friends with the band. Whenever they play in Vienna, I am on the guestlist and these are always great concerts. And because people know that, how do I write something about them, that doesn’t sound like uncompromising sucking up? What could I write, that people would really believe? Well, as always there is an easy rule: stick to the truth. (Which is a good tip for a lot of occasions, believe me.) But getting myself up to tell the truth, has taken me some time. Weeks in which I listened to this record over and over again. I even had this CD in my car for weeks without changing, until even my wife started to like it. And “vagabond” never stopped growing on me, it just became bigger and better every time I popped it into a CD player. And now while I am sitting here, listening to it once more, thinking about it with the intent to create some witty remarks in my mind about it, it grows even more. So, here it comes, the honest truth, and I promise it won’t hurt.

This record is really good. Valina have really made a big step forward in their evolution, still all the statements made about their first record “into arsenal of codes” are still quite true. They have always been able to get new and innovative sounds out of their basic drums / bass / guitar and vocals-line up, but now these “strange” and “weird” sounds, guitar-licks and rhythms grow into one another organically and naturally, without leaving holes here and there. Just listen to “Dance your job”, the second song on “vagabond” and you’ll know what I mean; the guitar follows its very own path, while bass and drums lay down an intricate pattern, and with the vocals on top you’ll get a beautiful song that will make you dance around in your room. The whole record is filled with these beautiful moments, that combine emo-core, post-rock and noise-rock, or whatever new, innovative guitar-oriented music style of the last years comes to your mind, with that very own Valina-de/reconstruction that gives every recording a very special flavour. Some tracks on “Vagabond” are more straightforward, such as “Ship to escape”, which was already released on a single as number one in the “Substance Single Series”. Other tracks are almost out of sync and almost wobble their way into a full-grown song, such as the beginning of “The Akrobat 36”, which especially takes its time to come to grips with where this song is headed to, but when it starts it is a great, understated moment and then the song is already over. Yeah, this is the way things work around here.

Remarking upon these songtitles mentioned above, it is plain to see that Valina are also masters of encoding and encrypting their lyrics in a way that makes them rationally not understandable but in connection with the melody and sound of the song, you’ll understand what it is all about nevertheless. These lines will tell you a lot about the personal experiences and living-circumstances of the people involved, but not so much in words as in connotations. Or to say it in the words of Valina: “I just got rid of all the words (…) ‘cause I don’t think that it is interesting, whom words or time belong to, as long as they mean something so someone (…) we search for nothing, everybody found the same!?”. And that might be the reason why they cite both Bruce Springsteen and the Anti-Pop Consortium somewhere in this record. Because words don’t belong to anyone at all, and the most important thing would be to find a way of communicating that everyone on this planet is able to understand. Is that a political message (and not just my very own far-fetched interpretation)? If yes, then it is well hidden, as practically anything with Valina. Nothing is done on the surface or superficially.

Of course, one of the things you’ll notice first listening to “Vagabond” is the crisp and clean atmosphere of the recordings, which gives every instrument its rightful place, with heavy drums that don’t forget the high frequencies, guitars that are distorted to max but still sound clean and recognizable and a warm and full-bottomed bass-sound. Well, the recording was done by Steve Albini in his Electrical Audio Studios in Chicago, because Steve Albini liked Valina so much, when the played support for Shellac in Munich. Ain’t that a great story for a young band from Upper Austria? And because Valina have the principle in their mind, that things worth doing are worth doing well, the whole record was mastered at Abbey Road Studios in London. And it worked out well, because – even on the danger of boring everyone to death by repeating myself endlessly – “Vagabond” has turned out really good.

If you got the impression now, that Valina are a “big” band, almost “rock stars” then you are completely mistaken. And as far as I know them, they’d rather stay close to the surface or even underground, because what matters to them is the music and the people they can connect to via the music. This is also the reason why they are still releasing their records via labels they are connected to completely on a long-lasting friendship basis rather than a contract. (These labels are Trost-records from Austria and Conspiracy-Records from Belgium, and both are known for releases that are filled with emotions, stacked to the rim with specialities and joy.) And right here, there is definitely a political message hidden within the personal and even private decision of how to live your own life. And the obvious decision to keep big music industry out of their lives and “careers”, because industry always means making money or even having to make money, while living cannot be about the accumulation of wealth but rather should be about enjoying the moments and hours right here and now. But Valina won’t push that message into your face but rather get up there on the stage and show by example how easy and relaxed a life led in the best way could be. The most obvious hint at their way of seeing things is hidden in the copyright-lines within the booklet, which read: “Concerns regarding unauthorized lending, copying or such things won’t really bother a band out of the harbour. Make a tape-copy and give it to your boyfriend, but think of the fact that listening to the vinyl version of a record brings more pleasure into one’s life than some crappy mp3s via email.” See, at the harbour, which is were Valina come from in their hometown of Linz, it is all about pleasure in life, friendship and don’t bother about the fucked up rest.

02/2003