Bad Veins
Bad Veins
[Dangerbird]
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Bad Veins' self-titled debut meshes meandering orchestration and Killers-style keys with pounding beats, both of the dance and post-punk variety, yielding accessible tunes that fall somewhere between The Walkmen and The National. The Cincinnati-bred outfit, comprised of Benjamin Davis (vocals, guitars, keys) and Sebastien Schultz (drums), garnered critical-acclaim from their inception in 2006 with a noteworthy debut performance at CMJ. The duo – or trio if you factor in their antique reel-to-reel player that handles 50 to 70 extra tracks during their live performances – utilized music licensing company Black Iris' commercial studio and expert engineers to co-produce Bad Veins strictly on the terms of its creators. Ultimately finding their way onto the Dangerbird Records' roster (home to acts like Sea Wolf, Silversun Pickups and The Dears) Bad Veins first effort incorporates well-executed orchestration and warm, woolly guitars into otherwise straightforward, slow-burning tracks that encompass the necessary elements of pop without being overly constricted to the format.

"Found" piques interest from the get-go with harmonious horn lines reminiscent of now-defunct indie act Beulah juxtaposed with a processional drum beat; an opening track that strategically builds to epic proportions. "Gold and Warm," the Midwesterners' appropriate choice for first-single, showcases the act's most radio-friendly stab at songwriting albeit with a vocal flair that borrows liberally from Brandon Flowers' playbook and reappears later in "Crosseyed." Slowing the pace, the brooding, synth-infused "You Kill" ultimately builds to a grandiose choral refrain on the heels of affected yet cutting lyrics: "You cheat on me real good/ With half the neighborhood/ and I thought I saw it coming/ You can't turn away like you can't stop from running." The record's most instrumentally deconstructed track, "The Lie," pads Davis' words with enough breathing room to show his strength and range as a vocalist, complete with an uncomplicated yet completely memorable chorus to boot.

While Bad Veins do borrow stylistically from influential acts in their genre, the duo maintains a heightened level of technical prowess and a creative spark that renders their debut effort both familiar and fascinating.