I must admit I wasn’t totally impressed by Danish quartet Viva Vertigo’s first two albums, ‘Viva Viva’ (2004) and ‘Vulcan Gas Company’ (2007). Basically they lacked songs to make their stylistically adept, American garage noise-rock really interesting at length, but that has changed for the better with this third effort.

The album title makes perfect sense: It’s aggressive and loaded with reverb, the 60s sound not entirely unlike The Raveonettes and all their influences (Sune Wagner have in fact contributed with the song ‘Wild Flames Of Love’), and the lyrics tell primarily mournful tales from singer and songwriter Simon Beck’s life in Copenhagen and New York City.

Like noise-pop gem ‘Americana’ about how he was kidnapped in NYC when staying with a few of poker hero Gus Hansen’s friends in Hells Kitchen, the girlfriend with a questionable past in “ride the hotrod” rocker ‘Scorpio K.O.’, the flirtatious duet with Lise Cabble (ex Miss B. Haven) ‘Chandra Lee’ that see love go wrong and ‘Devildoll’ in which cocaine rears its head.

Twelve songs and an intro are a couple too many, but that’s weighed out by the quality of the rest, and ‘Vicious Echo’ shines dark as Viva Vertigo’s best effort yet.

Genre: Rock
Who: Viva Vertigo
Album: Vicious Echo
Label: Slingshot Sound/Tactic Records
Year: 2009
Country: Denmark
Language: English
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Recommended tracks:
Scorpio K.O. – Americana – Walk All Over You – Wild Flames Of Love – Chandra Lee