Album Review: Lauris Vidal - Better Part

'Better Part' opens up with the dampened, tinny modest mouse influenced sound produced by the banjo. Lauris' raw raspy vocals present to us a wide vocal range, especially during the the simple distorted guitar solo between verses completely contrasts the acoustic. I strongly urge you to watch the video where Lauris performs this song live in a cave. The bluesy 'Freed' is the song that you hear at the begining of every feel good movie. Simple but full of soul and passion, the inclusion of backing vocals that sound more like a gospel choir than a random bunch of friends, especially when singing the line "I need my spirit free".

For 'Killing Fields', Laruis breaks out the electric guitar and by doing sound, embraces the punk aesthetic of bands such as Against Me, the guitar solo is of course one for which you'd bring out you'd dust off your old air guitar especially for. 'NY Floors' sounds like a song that would be played on a beach in Hawaii, the delicate ukelele accompanied by a comfortable slide guitar and Laruis' muffled vocals creates a very atmospheric ambience for this song.

Blistering bluesy guitars open up 'Would You', the song calms down midway through but is disrputed by a frenzy of raucous, distorted guitars and husky screaming, it is Lauris' blend of grunge and reggae that makes this song a brilliant closing song to a brilliant EP.

Lauris Vidal combines the passion of Otis Redding mixed with Tom Waits' lyrics as well as Waits' habit of using strange instrumentation. On the guitar as well as the banjo and the ukelele, he manages to produce unorthodox, and complex, ways of playing his instrument without straying from the melody itself.

5/5

'Better Part' by Lauris Vidal is available now on P Is For Panada.

Lauris Vidal on MySpace.

George Gadd