Orphans & Vandals – I Am Alive and You Are Dead

Orphans & Vandals, I really, really want to like you. I deeply admire your epic scope and willingness to eschew the insipid anti-folk meanderings so prevalent in the British indie scene at the moment. I happily acknowledge your attempts to deliver lyrics more sophisticated than the trite platitudes or amiable nonsense that most bands settle for. Your melodies are excellent, your energy undeniable. But there's no getting around it- Al Joshua's spoken-word vocal stylings are something you just love or hate, and I unfortunately fall firmly into the latter camp.You need a certain grizzled, world-weary quality to get away with musical monologues, or at the very least a detached, laid-back style but Joshua comes across too much like a breathlessly enthusiastic arts-school student to carry it off- it's like Gareth Campesinos trying to ape Lou Reed. His infuriatingly affected intonation also grates, which is a shame as his under-used singing voice is imbued with a husky, bruised quality a la Bill Callahan and actually works much better with his material. His lyrical skills are more commendable, but still a touch hit-and-miss. Highlighting the seedier, less salubrious side of London life, Joshua doubtlessly has a certain poetic talent but too often it comes across as a little try-hard, lacking the effortless sharp wit and incisiveness that the likes of Jarvis Cocker lent to similar themes.Still, there's much to commend Orphans and Vandals on. Compositionally, they're miles ahead of many of their peers, with a complexity that eludes similar bands with a semi-orchestral tint. The arrangements are consistently excellent, deploying the band's multi-instrumental talents to the fore- the swirling violin and harmonica of 'Argyle Square,' the stripped-down pizzicato/accordion accompaniment on 'Liquor on Sunday' and not least the judicious use of musical saw (an act that automatically elevates any band a couple of notches) on the excellent 'Incognito'. They've also got a commendable amount of variety in their tracks, although sometimes it doesn't necessarily work in their favour- whilst the more reserved charms of 'Christopher' showcases the band at their best, the sub-Fratellis rock n' roll posturing of 'Metropes' is nigh-on-unlistenable. A little more brevity would work in their favour; two-thirds of the songs on I Am Alive and You are Dead meander past the six-minute mark with no real purpose- but if they could rectify this and sort out the vocals, you'd have a band with genuine potential. Orphans and Vandals are a little scruffy round the edges, but they've clearly got the seeds of something great buried within them. 68%Orphans & Vandals on MySpace