Album Review: Viva Voce

The Future Will Destroy You (Vanguard Records)

By Casey Jarman

[PSYCH ROCK] You'd never know Viva Voce had such a tumultuous recent history—the duo of Kevin and Anita Robinson has had side projects, full-band experiments and label switches since 2009—from listening to its albums. All five of the group's proper full-length records were recorded and produced by (and primarily for) Viva Voce itself, and while 2009 release Rose City was somewhat of a stylistic departure for the duo, its back-to-basics sound seemed more a sanity-saving detour than any permanent change in direction.

Indeed, it takes about a minute of listening to The Future Will Destroy You to notice the band is back to its grueling, time-intensive studio regimen (Kevin lost over 30 pounds while working on the new disc). Opener "Plastic Radio" sounds a bit like the Clash and '80s-era Leonard Cohen, but Anita's howling guitar lines are absolute '70s stadium-rock gold à la Gary Glitter. Though the album was recorded in Kevin and Anita's house, it sounds like a big-budget release from the get-go.

"Analog Woodland Song" is the only remnant here of Rose City's breezy sound, though the gallop of "Diamond Mine" and the drum-machine-driven "We Don't Care" both hint at an uptick in hip-hop being played in the Robinson household as of late. Most of all, The Future sounds like a Viva Voce record—which is to say it's another expertly crafted psych-rock disc, the finer details of which only fellow musicians will truly appreciate. "Black Mood Ring" is a flashy slice of shoegazing Southern rock with a gorgeous space-surf breakdown—every moment of the song feels stacked impossibly high with woozy overdubs; "A Viking Love Song" delves even deeper into smoky, Middle East-vibe tripper-rock soundscaping. The band's marriage of sugary pop harmonies and heady instrumental/studio mastery isn't for everyone, but for the predisposed, this stellar new record proves that now's as good a time as any to jump on the bandwagon.

SEE IT: Viva Voce releases The Future Will Destroy You at Music Millennium on Tuesday, June 21, at 6 pm. Free. All ages.

WWeek 2015

Casey Jarman

Casey Jarman

Casey Jarman is a freelance editor and writer based in East Portland, Oregon. He has served as Music Editor at Willamette Week and Managing Editor at The Believer magazine, where he remains a contributing editor. He is currently working on his first book. It's about death.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office.

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