my name is mwd

Viva Stereo are an unsigned Glasgow band, whom I think I’ve mentioned before here, and who’s bassist, Tim Troup, is a fellow PhD student here at dcs.gla.ac.uk. I first heard them on Radio Scotland last year, and really liked them, and have finally got my hands on their latest E.P., named Resistance.

The E.P. is a mixture of sounds. Tracks 1, 2, 4, and 6 have what I like about Viva Stereo - a funky blend of rock and electronic sounds that are a mix of the sounds of The Cooper Temple Clause, The Beta Band, and at times Placebo. Indeed, my favourite track is Drive, which has echos of Placebo’s instrumentals Ion and the “hidden” end of album tracks from Placebo and Without You I’m Nothing. Track 5, Honesty, was my least favourite, where they turn in a tuneful perfromance, but one which sounds like any other Scottish rock band from Big Country to the ever dull Mull Historical Society (sorry Tim ;). For completeness, track 3 is a purely electronic composistion, which reminds me of stuff by this man.

This E.P. was produced by the band and distributed through Fopp’s unsigned deal, which I think is a top idea. The band give Fopp a stack of CDs, which they then put for sale in their store at a price of their setting, and after six months those that aren’t sold are returned to the band, and Fopp keep 25% of the sales. This strikes me as a good thing, so long as the band can recoup their initial cost of making the CDs.

Anyway, the Resistance E.P. is work a listen if you’re into rock/electic hybrid stuff.

Link: http://www.vivastereo.co.uk/