Released 2008, Sony/BMG Records

Looking back upon a decade passed, there is one band and one record in particular that I should like to remind you of. You may not know them – in which case I believe you’ve been missing out, but when Veto first entered the Danish music scene in 2006 with the release of their debut There’s A Beat In All Machines they were named the saviours of Danish rock music.

Their sound was a tightly cut mixture of explosive Radiohead-rock, glammed up synth-pop and edgy electronica. Fronted by charismatic vocalist Troels Abrahamsen and his lyrics telling stories of love’s darker side, with a rare sincerity. A band with a unique ability to combine a tight minimalistic expression with an incredibly nuanced facet of ideas, delivering tight rock, electronica and a melancholic expression all in one package.

Crushing Digits was released in 2008, and proved that the band more than mastered the tricky act of renewal without losing the connection to their previous album. As a compact, modern rock-album Crushing Digits is an example of nothing less than eminent production and thoroughly compressed guitar, electro-rock. It is a monument of sound, impossible to slide in even the finest blade between the instrumental building blocks.

Track by track is formed as effect-filled and physically seductive rock-dynamics. The album, somewhat near to being a musical triumph, sent hyper electrifying rhythms through the nations airwaves with one of the first singles “Built To Fall”. Like other elecktro-rocks bands, The Cure stands as one of Veto noticeable sources of inspiration, but then added the meditative coolness of Hot Chip. And when tracks like “Shake” and “You Say Yes, I Say Yes” sends your aural radar zooming towards early Cure, pure enchantment is achieved.

One of Veto’s unique features is their ability to blend confident music, with vulnerability in their lyrics given the music and underlining melancholy. Combined it becomes a delicate balancing act, but in the hands of Veto it becomes a natural element forming the depth of the music’s soul. The lyrics posses concern and a reflectivity of a reality less than perfect. The album takes you on a thrilling and arousing journey, but delivers’ you neatly back to reality with the final track “Duck, Hush and Be Still”, where after nine high-intensity tracks, you catch you breath again and the cycle is complete.

As an album Crushing Digits” is a confident and intelligent production throughout, with an immense intensity right from the first strike of a cord. However the intensity grows throughout the record and climaxes right at the midriff with the two phenomenal rock tracks “Digits” and “Unite”. So if you haven’t heard it yet, this is my recommendation for one album well worth your time, while we sit back and wait for the new decade to make its grand entry.

 

 

 

Posted In Music Of The Noughties, Nov 26 2009. Words - Maria