VEYU
As VEYU returned with a vengence at Leaf with a whole host of new bands in tow, Getintothis’ Rick Leach witnessed something special.
Sometimes things are worth waiting for.
It had been too long since VEYU had wowed us back in 2013 with their debut.
The following year saw them release their self-titled EP which rightly found its place into Getintothis’ Records of the Year. They were widely feted as something to look out for and then-it all went quiet.
Scroll forward to 2017 and they’re back with a new, 30 minute, six-track mini-album/EP, Underbelly, and a live date at Leaf to unveil it to the world.
On a somewhat rain-sodden evening, VEYU took to the stage unannounced. Straight on, no messing about. No fanfare, but not that one was necessary because VEYU and their songs simply soared.
Although for some unfathomable reason, Leaf was fairly sparsely attended and the few people that did drift in as VEYU started their set didn’t swell the numbers overall: if you weren’t there, then you missed a treat.
R.E.M.- 30 years of Lifes Rich Pageant & the legacy of rock’s classiest band
You know those rare and odd occasions when you hear a band and, well, it just sounds right? It makes sense and things fall into place and you want to tell the world? Well, that’s how VEYU were.
This is a band that deserves to be heard. Deserves to be listened to. We dare not say those dread words, that they’re ‘going to be big’, but if any band should be, then all they have to do is push gently on that open door. Stone me, they were staggeringly good.
There’s something about then that speaks of hope and promise. Through all these dark times which we’re going through, this second dark age, we need music that swirls and soars and swoops and drifts and leaves you open-mouthed.
It’s all too easy to easy to fall into hyperbole. We’ve all read (and written) too many times about the next big thing; yet VEYU aren’t that. They’re here and they’re now.
The new songs from Underbelly are supposed to be more gritty and rougher than before, although to our ears there was a seamless transition. You couldn’t see the join as it all fitted so well.
There’s psychedelic touches throughout, swathes of sound, of ear-piercing sense, flourishes where we could do no more than be overpowered by it all. It is close your eyes and drift away music yet underneath it all there’s a steeliness at its core; psych without all the fripperies. Isn’t that what we need?
After an hour it was all over. It lasted an hour but was one of those gigs when it felt like 10 minutes. They wrapped it up with a maelstrom of sound and light and left us wanting more.
Support came from a veritable pick and mix. Eyesore and The Jinx– with what was only their second gig, opened with a gentle Go-Betweens/Velvetsy vibe and were followed by Black Pulp‘s Vampire Weekend stylings which went down pretty well. SPQR noisily thrashed away for thirty minutes or so, if you like that sort of thing. Something for everyone really.
But VEYU.
Sturm und Drang. And how.
Pictures by Getintothis’ Francesco Imola
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- VEYU
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- VEYU
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- VEYU
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- SPQR
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- Black Pulp
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- Eyesore & the Jinx
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