Overlooked Gems Series ..... VANITY ROSE ~ ROTTEN LITTLE THOUGHT .......

Feelings of anger, angst, frustration and fury may be seen as negative emotions but it is emotions like these that have fuelled some of the best music released on this planet, rock'n'roll, punk and grunge were just some of the music's born from frustrated, bored and angry disfranchised youth railing against the establishment and those poisoned chalices handed down to them by their parents and governments and in the future there will be other music's that will serve the same purpose. They do say that anger is not good for the soul but anger can sometimes be a release valve, a way of letting off steam and venting your fury in a positive way and this especially true in music.

Mallorcan quartet Vanity Rose,  Ana Herrero (vocals); Pablo B. De Haro (guitar/vocals); Xisco Rosselló (bass) and Andrea Trujillo (drums), are one such band channelling their frustrations through their music, the bands sound is a raucous blend of 90's grunge and late 70's punk rock spliced with a little stoner(ish) fuzz and distortion and has, to Desert Psychlist's ears, a Nirvana meets Garbage meets Riot-Girl vibe. That is of course our opinion and after giving their album "Rotten Little Thought" (Discos Macarras Records) a spin your opinion might be completely different, either way it's a cracking little listen!

There will be those reading the first part of this review and thinking "do I really need some angsty musicians venting their spleens at me for the entirety of a whole album?" Well those people might be surprised to find that despite containing song titles like "Obsession", "Hill of Lost Desires", "The Eyes of My Jailers" and "Bad Choices" and boasting lyrical references to depression, sorrow pain and rejection "Rotten Little Thought" is actually quite an upbeat and highly entertaining little opus. Grunge/alt-rock like many sub-cultures begat a slew of bandwagon jumpers, for every Nirvana there appeared a Staind, for every Soundgarden there popped up a Puddle of Mud, these "second wave" bands did not quite understand that grunge was also a celebration of youth and instead used it for an excuse to wallow in self-loathing and depression. It has to be said that Vanity Rose do their fair share of wallowing on "Rotten Little Thought" but they also know when to throw those cloaks of despair off and kick their legs up in the air, as their cover of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots are Made for Walking" will attest to. Musically Vanity Rose are totally on point Rosselló's booming earthy bass and Trujillo's tight, solid rhythms provide De Haro the perfect platform to either support his crunching chord work or launch his swirling solos from while in Herrero the band have a vocalist of rare quality, her ever so slightly accented voice, in turns sweet, soulful, raw and feral, is a powerful tool able to convey all the  emotions we have come to expect of music in this ilk..

Grunge/alt-rock began to get some bad press after the deaths of Andrew Wood, Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley and the fairly recent passing of Chris Cornell, the sub-culture became embroiled in tales of drug-abuse, depression and suicide but lets remember that things didn't start off that way and that in its beginnings it was a celebration of youth, yes its lyrical content was sometimes dark and inward looking but if you went to a gig during this time you would have seen both bands and fans thoroughly living for the moment. Vanity Rose, with "Rotten Little Thought"  have the balance just right, yes they are angry but that's not going to stop them having a good time.

Check 'em out ..... 

© 2022 Frazer Jones