Thought you had heard every combination of genres? Well, the England trio Vienna Ditto just might have a new one for you. Though at their inception, the band was essentially a bedroom/laptop outfit assembling odd songs, these days, Hatty Taylor, Nigel Firth and Scott Lawrence are an unusual and chilling mix of rockabilly and trip hop, among other sounds.
“Oh Josephine” starts the album off with a dark beat and the sort of moody post-punk that brings to mind the early days of The Cure and Siouxsie And The Banshees. The contrast between a dark, sonic and hypnotic instrumentation works well with Hatty Taylor’s smooth, silky vocals, giving the song a sweet but mysterious angle. “This Is Normal” follows and is anything but normal, as the quiet and haunting tune builds into a swirling haze of noises and melodies with a Halloween-esque backdrop. “Wintertime” then modifies the tone of the album down several notches. It is a solemn yet beautiful and calm soundtrack to walking a desolate street that is only lit by a dim streetlight. “Feeling Good” brings the pace and loudness back, sounding like an experimental trip-hop anthem with thundering percussion lots of abstract noises and a chorus you won’t soon forget.
The second half of the disc is equally as impressive, like on the soft and enigmatic “Wheel Within A Wheel” where Taylor’s cryptic vocals are met with dark keys. This leads into the upbeat and quirky “Hold On,” which warrants Blondie comparisons, and that quirkiness is complemented with “Hammer And A Nail,” which is a genre defying mix of post-everything sounds where horns and organs are used to the fullest. The album exits on “I Know His Blood,” a sparse closer that builds into a throbbing, pulsating anthem that is tailor made for late night contemplation.
There’s much potential for this young band and their talent appears boundless. Fans of anything resembling Portishead should find and consume this immediately.
