You’re at a mate’s party where you don’t really know anyone. Making awkward conversation with strangers is not your idea of a rad Friday night, but the only other option is watching Catdog in your underwear at home. So you’re here, clinging to a beer looking for someone mildly interesting to stave off boredom. We’ve all been in this situation, and there is no greater joy than being able to find someone who is not only mildly interesting but could actually be your new best friend long after the night comes to an end and the false confidence alcohol bestowed upon you has worn off. For Angela Ford and David Jenkins their meeting through a mutual friend resulted in not only a new friendship, but a musical partnership that has given birth to the thriving electro oddity that is Vigilantes.
Sydney’s Vigilantes may be the new kids on the electro block, but they definitely have the chops to show off what they’ve got.
Vigilantes have been kicking around Sydney for the last year since their chance meeting and as they themselves have put it, have been “Obsessively collaborating” since. David Jenkins is certainly no stranger to the game, being a multi-instrumentalist and working as a producer for Kirin J. Callinan and Bertie Blackman previously. His partner in vigilante crime Angela however was a relative newcomer to the world of being a pro muso, yet like puppies and warm cuddles the two managed to come together to create something more than the sum of their parts.
Their debut self-titled EP is a sparse two track recording and while that may seem lie not much it is more than capable of whetting your appetite for what will undoubtedly be a very active future for Vigilantes. Their sound is primarily electronic, with both Angela and David providing vocals amongst a a backdrop peppered with versatile beats and hooks.
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Opening track Circles fades in with crawling synth that sounds like it is another audio that has been sampled and played backwards. The track is dominated by a lurching synth part, when I hear it I can’t help but feel this sensation of running up and down a spiral staircase that has no end. Which is a nature fitting for a track called Circles, the music and lyrics looping each other. “Fall back into, the places that we know”, “How did we come to, how did we come to this?” and “Now we’re back to where we started” aren’t the most groundbreaking lyrics, but they work because of the way they are used within the song. They are repeated and sung in a way that leaves no room for breath, only the constant questioning and spiralling music remain to effectively construct the image of repeating oneself, usually for the worst.
<3 , as you could guess from text message symbol title, is much lighter and features a prettier melody. David takes lead vocals on this one, and although he isn’t a particularly strong vocalist the narrative he manages to weave throughout the three minutes and forty second run time definitely makes up for the former. The boppy percussion and Angela’s cute backing harmonies give <3 an innocent and sweet quality. The tale of searching for love and the sensation of then finding someone to give your love to feels very heartfelt and captures the essence of those feelings in an appropriately un-cheesy manner.
Debut’s are a tricky thing, but Vigilantes have managed to create a two-track that showcases their abilities and the clear sense of purpose their music has that so many new groups fail to nail down. These guys are minimalist without feeling cheap, engaging without sounding forced, and are definitely worth a few minutes of your time.
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