The Spider Accomplice - Los Angeles:
The Abduction
The Spider Accomplice is a three piece
rock band featuring the talents of VK Lynne on vocals, Arno Nurmisto on guitar,
and Justin Lee Dixon on drums and vocal percussion. Their latest six song EP
release Los Angeles: The Abduction is the second release in their Los Angeles
Trilogy and accelerates their development as one of the superb rising rock acts
today thanks to its stunning combination of melody, forceful rock posturing,
unexpected rhythms, and dynamic arrangements that aren’t afraid to surprise the
audience or subvert their expectations in order to further enliven the
songwriting and performances. Few bands can claim to be as imaginative in the
modern rock world and their appeal crosses across non-existent distinctions
between mainstream and indie musical scenes. This is a collection sure to find
favor, as well, with traditional rock fans and those who adhere to a much more
modern sound.
The first track on the EP “Bromlaid”
will strike some listeners as being some powerful hybrid of hard rock and
orchestral pop. Melody is never in short supply on Los Angeles: The Abduction,
but neither is the band’s capacity for twisting nominally ordinary song
structures into something fierce and refreshingly original. “Messy Vampire” is
the EP’s first real example of the hard rock excellence the band is capable of
mustering with seemingly little effort. Lynne gives her vocal a ton of bite to
complement the song without ever trying to outsize the band. Great singers sing
along with the music, rather than against it, and she does that here with
startling results. “Behold the Day” goes in an equally imaginative direction both
musically and lyrically with some stunning and evocative guitar work and Lynne
complements it with an exceptional vocal that further illustrates the
aforementioned point about her vocal style. One of the album’s best tracks,
“You Still Lie”, has been tapped as an EP single and it’s easy to hear why. It
kicks off with a brief and lively simmer before springing to even greater life
with one of the album’s most authoritative rock arrangements. Drummer Justin
Lee Dixon deserves particular mention here for his powerful drumming.
“Going Over” seems almost ballad-like,
but The Spider Accomplice thankfully never succumbs to the standard clichés and
tropes inherent to the form. There’s some surprising acoustic textures on this
track that offer up an interesting, but wholly consistent, variation on the
form. Lynne shows her vocal flexibility here with a deeply felt vocal. The last
song on the EP, “Hollywood Hotel”, easily outstrips the earlier “Messy Vampire”
as the biggest rock track on Los Angeles: The Abduction and powers through
thanks to its blood-drawing guitar lines and a full throated vocal from Lynne.
There are few releases you will likely hear in 2017 with this range and that’s
high praise considering the brevity of the EP. The Spider Accomplice bring considerable
skill and imagination to everything they do and the end result doesn’t have an
appeal merely confined to rock fans – this is bracing music that can be
appreciated by all.
9 out of 10 stars
Dale Butcher
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