VANDAVEER - DIVIDE & CONQUER

This was actually my first album by folk rockers, Vandaveer.  This is a solid disc from the opening strums of the guitar to the final fade.  I think this is my favorite Vandaveer album.  It's just so good.  

The disc open with the title track, 'Divide & Conquer'.  This number has a softer tone, but it's also bubbly and packed with rhythm.  It's infectious.  'Fistful Of Swoon' has one of the most elaborate and natural builds I've heard in music in a long time!  It swells up and crescendos so magnificently you can't help but sing along at the top of your lungs!

I think that's what makes this record so fantastic.  Mark Heidinger writes songs that are catchy and fun to sing.  The lyrics can be challenging because he's not trapped by convention.  He isn't interested in rhyming "Red" with "Head" or "Bed"...  He looks for interesting ways to tell stories and his vocal gymnastics are a great way to hone your sing along, karaoke skills. 

When I think of ways to describe this band, I'm always left thinking about the poet singer/songwriters of the 60's and 70's.  There was a huge amount of fame invested in these talented individuals who would squeeze the poetry from their souls and offer them up for mass consumption in the form of music.  Vandaveer recall this trend.  It's the wounded tones in the voices of the singers...the strain they put on different lines and the haunting way they compliment each other.  You get a mysterious blend of parts that come together to create this otherworldly sound.

My favorite song on the album is 'Before The Great War'.  This is absolutely one of the most amazing songs ever written.  I adore it.  I'd write the lyrics for the entire song here if I could.  There are so many perfect lines that come together in this masterpiece.  I find the line, "you gave children all the love your daddy stole from you", both sad and satisfying.  It makes more sense when you hear it in context with the rest of the song but on it's own...  It shows a heart capable of outgrowing the damaging pain of the past and break a cycle of bad relationships.  I find it extremely powerful.

The album ends with a soft and sincere tribute to author Beverly Cleary's character Ramona Quimby.  Once again, there's a focus on the passing of time and how even a storybook can become lost in the years after a child outgrows it.

I think Vandaveer are an amazing band and with such strong records under their belt, you can only expect even more enjoyable music from them in the future.  My final words:  A MUSICAL TRIUMPH FOR A SINGULAR BAND!!!

VANDAVEER - DIVIDE & CONQUER
01. Divide & Conquer
02. Fistful Of Swoon
03. Resurrection Mary
04. A Mighty Leviathan Of Old
05. Woolgathering
06. Turpentine
07. Before The Great War
08. Long Lost Cause
09. The Sound & The Fury
10. Beverly Cleary's 115TH Dream