Review by Stephen O’Brien
Turning on the first song of their self titled EP, I immediately found myself having enough energy to bounce around the sitting room, despite travelling across the country twice in the 24 hours. Impressive start Vasquez.
The off time guitar riff could contend with the likes of At The Drive-In and even Josh Hommes guitar work with Queens of the Stone Age. Vasquez put themselves forward as being Adebisi Shank’s evil twin brother.
“Supermetal” starts with your generic hard rock drum beat but its capabilities are blown to an endless proportion as guitar riffs and musical transitions leave your brain trying to run different directions.
“McLovin” starts almost identical to “Little Sister” by Queens of the Stone Age which leads suspicions about the bands ability to contain an original sound. They seem to wear their influences on their sleeves. The bizarre insanity of the chorus saves the song from getting a lawsuit and before I know it, the song is over.
“It’s here” erupts from the first bar. This song seems to have its raw energy somewhat contained. This final song ends with a harmonic guitar piece to which emotion grows to fade out leaving the listener wanting more.
I would definitely recommend this EP for anyone who likes the Richter Collective bands or the likes of hard rock giants Queens of the Stone Age. However the influences of their musical idols seem rather strong and I would prefer to see them find their own niche. For me most of the musical ideas here can be found on the two Adebisi Shank albums.
This EP is free to download at vasquez.bandcamp.com