VETO – Crushing Digits

When I read that five-piece rocktronica band VETO were "the biggest thing to come out of Denmark since Hans Christian Andersen", I immediatelyd dropped the great man's complete works and hastily shoved Crushing Digits into my PC's disc drive. Given that the last piece of Danish music I heard was the excellent triple-EP set by Tina Dico, the prospect of hearing something new from that part of the world - even something so clearly different - was enticing.Opener "Blackout" quickly dispelled any hope of finding any evidence for the album supposedly being influenced by progressive rock, instead displaying a penchant for pulsing synthesizers, mid-tempo beats and mildly melodramatic, slightly echoed vocals. The album continues more or less in this vein, but it doesn't get as old as quickly as you might assume. Instead, VETO display quite a knack for starting with a basic template for their songs and gradually bulding on it with additional background percussion, increasingly frantic vocals and the odd digital beeps and blips to furnish the sound. Also, rather than just letting this cycle go on and on, they are willing to slow things down and mix things up before returning to a song's main theme. This is brash, propulsive electronica built sturdily upon tried-and-tested rock songwriting templates. The lyrics are never hugely inspiring but "You Say Yes, I Say Yes" contains some interesting lines ("what's the point of a soul / when all I am being is / a faulty copy of myself") and the closer, "Duck Hush and Be Still" seems to be a commentary of sorts on the "surveillance state" we - and presumably the Danes - seem to be living in. The standout song is possibly "Unite" which really nails the sound VETO seem to be aiming for and has a nice "power to the people" sort of faux-political vibe going on as well.For those who find comparisons appealing, VETO could be said to be a little like Bloc Party in their more electronic moments, but you know, without the stinging slap in the face of a rock band who bizarrely decided to turn into some odd bastardised electronica outfit. No, VETO are somehow more logical in their direction, and their music consistently enjoyable if never spectacular or inspiring. Crushing Digits is a solid, engaging album which will definitely have something to offer for anyone interested in the rock/electronica axis. 75%VETO on MySpace