Emotionalpunk.com
Media Review
Music Quality: 8.5
Production: 8.0
Originality: 7.0
Tracklisting
2. On Love And Cars
3. Fame
4. Switched On
5. At Your Will
6. Ride Out B****
7. Broke The Brakes
8. Paint It Red
9. For Cornered Lives
10. Do It For Sixty
11. Shot In The Back
The instant I put Vaux in, I was questioning the band's fame. I'd heard their name a lot, and seen people talking about them and referring to them and was shocked to see they were from Denver (my town, not many good bands have been coming from my area lately). The reason I was questioning their name though was because it sounded like loud, constant yelling, and ordinarily I'm not too impressed with bands who scream for the entire CD's duration. Nonetheless, Vaux continued to play, and after awhile I found their hard edged, loud sound growing on me. It's not my favorite stuff, but my appreciation grew slowly.
Combining a sort of style like the Deftones, but fusing on the sounds of today's punk-rock, Vaux are hard, filled with non-stop energy and poundingly loud guitars. The CD seems to pulsate, from the organ in On Love And Cars to the grungy, old-school-rock sounding riffs of Do It For Sixty. It seems, the only break from the loud walls of guitar is found in At Your Will's clean, evil sounding intro that again draws similarities from the Deftones. The song crescendos, and while staying slow tempoed, the singer shows that he CAN sing, not just scream. Perhaps this song was the reason I turned back and looked again at Vaux, and unveiled their true potential to be an amazing band.
The energy of the CD was compelling, and at its best moments Vaux could sound like a band many new school kids will love, but unless you really like hard fusion metal/core rock with "melodic screaming" if there is such a thing, the singer's almost non-stop screamage might get on your nerves. This CD ain't for the wusses ou there; only get it if you want to be rocked. Hard.