THE VELDT – ILLUMINATED 1989

By RingMaster Review on March 8, 2024 • ( 0 )

Thanks to our friend Shauna from Shameless Promotion PR and her ongoing explorations into the latest singles at any given moment, we have had the pleasure to highlight numerous singles from US outfit THE VELDT over the years and especially the past few months. A great many have come from the band’s latest album, Illuminated 1989, and after the latest offering we thought why not cut to the chase and look at the album as a whole and try and see why it was pulled by the band’s record label at the time when destined to be their debut album.

For those new to the band, THE VELDT centres around identical twins Daniel (vocals, guitar) and Danny Chavis (guitar), and is a project emerging in North Carolina in the 1980s. With Japanese bassist-programmer Hayato Nakao in their core line-up, the band became one of the notable dare we say pioneering artists in the growing US shoegaze scene in its early years but with a sound even from day one that embraced a host of flavours including post punk, gothic rock and new wave. As we said, Illuminated was recorded as the band’s first album and produced by Cocteau Twins’ Robin Guthrie but then shelved by Capitol Records who sent them back into the studio with producer Lincoln Fong (Moose, Piroshka). The outcome from that was Marigolds; an album full of new tracks that we must say was a damn fine debut in its own rights.

Last year saw Illuminated 1989 getting a vinyl debut via Portland-based Little Cloud Records and North Carolina’s 5BC Records with the album remastered for the event by Guthrie. As much as providing an unexpected new exploration its release offers an opportunity to try and understand why it was held back but multiple listens later we still have no idea why the band’s label felt the album was not suitable. Certainly, Marigolds is a more rock fuelled proposal compared to the calmer yet clamour-wrapped exploits of Illuminated 1989 so maybe that was what they were looking for but for us personally, there are moments upon the ‘lost’ album that far outshines others within Marigolds.

With the likes of drummer Marvin Levi, bassist Joseph Hue Boyle and Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins) also involved in its adventure, Illuminated 1989 opens with Aurora Borealis, a track that serenades with a soulful breath whilst its body dances with enlivening infectiousness. A song inspired by Danny’s love for his newborn daughter at the time of writing, it aligns a warm jangle with a rousing spirit in sound and emotion. It is a beautiful slice of music and emotion further enlivened by Daniel’s instinctive and impassioned vocals, a song that feels like a missed opportunity for single chart success back in the day.

C.C.C.P proved a just as striking and impressive proposal, the track strolling in with a noisy air to its alluring movement and rhythmic shuffle. That sense of skilled clamour around melodic dexterity is a ripe ingredient to this collection of tracks and with no more persuasion and addictiveness than here while It’s Over is a just as potent shoegaze symphony of soul and animated enterprise. It too has an inherent catchiness that easily slipped under the skin as the band contemplates in word and sound.

Through the esurient indie rock trespass of Shallow By Shallow, a song that has also persistently snapped at the heels of addiction with its dark pop and feral rhythmic incitement, and across the calmer yet just as enthused virulence of the wonderfully hazy Pleasure Toy, as well as the warm romance of Angel Heart, band and album simply continues to reveal its growing temptations and their enthralling presence. Within their respective moments of rock rapacity, shadowed infectiousness and evocative balladry, all three songs had attention firmly in their grasps as similarly Willow Tree with its melodic shimmering and pop rock musing within another sonic haze of further suggestiveness.

In vocals and guitar weaving alone, Illuminated 1989 is a fascinating and provocation incitement, a prowess THE VELDT has continued to build upon across their records, a dexterity though ripe from the start as shown again by the funk ‘n’ roll inflamed Git Up, a track that had us bouncing in mere moments. Similarly, involvement was effortless with the darkly cured almost sinister Heather and straight after the mesmeric Daisy Chain with its soulful pop saunter. The first of the latter two is a post punk/shoegaze nurtured proposal, a passage of drama and adventure like no other within the album and another major highlight.

The album is completed by a final gem in the shape of The Everlasting Gobstopper, a track that swings and resonates in body and emotion whilst coursing the beauty of discord and melodic seduction around another passage of pure rhythmic tantalisation. Not for the first time, there is a GENE LOVES JEZEBEL hue for us to a song and moment yet always a mere additive and colour to the uniqueness and invention of THE VELDT.

For us Illuminated 1989 is a finer and definitely more addictive encounter than what became the band’s debut but maybe it’s time to make a mark in musical history was simply destined to be now rather than at the moment of creation. Quite simply, it is another striking and richly enjoyable moment from a band that has made a habit of sharing such pleasures over the years.

The Illuminated 1989 album is out now via Little Cloud Records and North Carolina’s 5BC Records, available on limited edition translucent pink or clear vinyl with a gatefold sleeve @ https://theveldtmusic.bandcamp.com/album/illuminated-1989 and https://littlecloudrecords.com/products/the-veldt-illuminated-1989-pre-order plus to stream across fine digital platforms, including Apple Music, and Spotify.