It’s hardly lazy criticism to compare Viet Cong to their groundbreaking predecessor Women but we’ll be frank: The comparison is getting old. It is of course understandable. The two groups share members in Mike Wallace and Matt Flegel and Viet Cong is rounded out by Danny Christiansen and Scott Munro. Both acts share similar descriptors lauded for their wandering penchant and wintry demeanour (a descriptor that’s even name-checked in Viet Cong’s press notes). Yet the shadow of Women’s substantial legacy while helpful by association is something Flegel and co. must escape: No band will ever replicate Public Strain a fact well understood by Viet Cong members so it’s best to create something else entirely. And with their self-titled debut Viet Cong has done just that and though it’s early we’d be hard-pressed to hear anything more arresting in 2015.
Tall words sure. But worthy ones: While their Cassette EP which was eventually picked up by Mexican Summer earned the band international accolades their debut LP has solidified Viet Cong as a singular entity and one that stands peerlessly — meaning that from here on out we’re suggesting that respectfully we tuck the Women comparisons away. Viet Cong in fact has few sonic comparisons: Like a certain strain of German minimal techno it’s an exercise in brutalism and as with the hardened concrete of mid-century architecture it’s equal parts imposing bleak and beautiful. And the band wastes no time establishing that very aesthetic — opener “Newspaper Spoons” arrives with clattering industrial noise power electronics-indebted percussion and snarls of guitar noise which soon morph into bright sparks of melody. As a descriptor “wintry” is a massive oversimplification.
Viet Cong’s unique ability to weave melody and dissonance often seamlessly continues through their LP. Their reputation as a post-punk band is well earned — mid-album cut “Bunker Buster” builds around spiralling drill-bit guitars Flegel’s pulsing bass and a robotic drumbeat; it anchors the album and it’s Viet Cong’s most explosive (and immediately anthemic) song yet. But it’s surrounded on either end with deftly executed song collages: kraut-owing rhythm sections are blotted out with grey static (“Pointless Experience” which drops the uber-nihilistic line “If we’re lucky we’ll get old and die”) stringy guitar leads are smoothed over by smoggy post rock (“Continental Shelf”) jangled messes of guitar collide with Killing Joke-esque rhythms (“Silhouettes”) and “March of Progress” carves ’60s-indebted vocal melodies out of towering walls of drums. That latter track drops a lyric that perfectly summarizes the band’s mastery of contrasts: “Maybe you need someone to keep you warm” Flegel sings “With fire. Coming from a different sun.”
In the hands of a lesser band Viet Cong’s sonic alchemy might sound ill-conceived — or perhaps overly ambitious. Yet to their credit the LP’s variety is one of its strengths: While it’s undeniably crammed with ideas this is an album that’s emotionally complex remarkably even and end-to-end visceral. There’s an unwinnable argument that any of the LP’s tracks are its best. So let’s settle on this: Viet Cong is 2015’s first essential album.
