The Void

Rock was officially declared dead the moment Sharon Osbourne put her lot in with the Cowel-cash-cow and became responsible for the homogenized dilution and decimation of all things one could reasonably bang one’s hat-rack with devil horns thrown high to.

Since then anything entering the charts has come across as cynical high-street repro-rock, each band a check-list of clichéd cookie-cutter clones referring to their How To instruction book to ensure man-scara is correctly applied and the couldn’t-care-less slouch of dis-interest is affected in the proper manner.

Now3 more commercial than an advert for Maccy’s sponsored by Coke, it is to the internet those who seek a fat-free slice of fried gold spinning on the digital decks of their iPods, with a gladdening of the heart and hopefulness of the soul we find the exponents of rock’s soon-to-be greats in the substantial palatial offering of some mighty meaty music by rockers and rulers of the riff The Void.

Having kicked the teeth out the mouth of moribund music with solo offerings Play. Make. Believe and Acoustic/This Record Is Not Blu-Ray ‘Void founder and vision maker Jon Vornbrock turned what had been mere side-project musings into high-gear greatness, the album Robot Space Love bringing Dean Wilson, Jonny Little and Rob Cooper into the world of wonder Vornbrock revealed and reveling the freedom within.



Filling each of the eleven tracks on offer with enough hooks for a dozen amateur re-enactments of Peter Pan RSL immediately draws you in with a curious sensation of insinuation-through-song, the drawing out of a single note feeding back building to a crescendo that puts you firmly on the edge of a desirable frustration.

Measured and drawn there’s a sense of The Void preparing you for even greater things on album opener Wave Machine, a considered pacing of rhythm and occasional explosions of vocals the perfect toe-dipper song; it shows everything the band are about to drown your senses with without overplaying their status as musicians nor attempting to fit every good riff into the first number on the album.

Temptation assured and desire acquired the album then hits you with Planets Will Fall, an exceptional slice of the old fried gold; for those who favor the flavor of Aerosmithanthemic awesome sans high-street cheese PWF grabs the number one spot on my personal playlist and refuses to let go.

Double-stops, incidental riffage, and cymbals the drummer isn’t afraid to hit when the occasion demands, it’s songs such as this the band will still be playing when embarking on their 20 year anniversary world tour.

Everyone brings the emotion of a charging army and unjustly spurned lover to deliver a soundtrack for the next revolution; the drums rolling a beat seemingly designed to coincide with the rushing feet of a mass body aimed at the bulls-eye of injustice, the vocals perfectly timed to empower the force of the ruler’s fall at the hands of his estranged subjects with each imaginary blow landing square and true.

Robot Song From Robot Son calls for calm in the proceedings, a laconic delivery hinting at brooks babbling on the edge of freshly cut fields, reflection on the mind and consideration of the heart soothing the troubles of the soul. Such troubles that soon become apparent, the mood darkening and becoming a passionately electric release, turning the babble into a swell and the fields into scarred battle-grounds, the listener now a witness to all that has fallen and been turned to waste.

Summer and Knife To The Heart are pure crowd moving manna, the surge of the guitar building the moshpit and screaming vocals delivered with a commanders certainly almost guaranteed to get the elbows and knees flying ‘midst the devil horns and hair.

What begins as an apparent ode of solace to the songs namesake Lucy is to RSL what Don’t Cry was to UYI; a smorgasbord of deeply emotional extravagance, nothing held back nor apologized as the band deliver what is simply captivating genius. Cries and chords ring out and proud, a mushroom-cloud enveloping the audience and smothering the landscape with a saturation of sound. Self-indulgent? Maybe; but I would wager you would be hard pressed to find a reason why that is such a bad thing for The Void to be accused of once hearing the track for yourself.

Love and Distortion and Free are more melancholic musings , the former an acoustic driven dalliance decorated with electric punctuation, the latter a more moodier tempering with a drawn out beat, a soupcon of Smashing Pumpkins, and a chance to hear the depth of range vocalist Jon holds under his chordal control.

My Days Are Numbered has a more indie-rock feel, verging on grunge in places with punctuated vocals, raw guitars and cymbals breaking the background down into a shoe-gazing gravitas, hints of Jimmy Page lurking around the edges of the guitar and controlling the whole nicely.

Ending on Love Trips sends us off with a encouraging farewell and an open invitation to return, a very Soul Asylum inferring sound that closes the album with just the right level of charged emotion to leave us feeling satisfied and fulfilled yet replete enough to consider finding room for another helping.

With the lyrics ‘I need you’ reminding us of the open-arms that await us upon our return Robot Space Love draws to a close, your ears already missing the music and your thumb twitching toward the repeat button.

It’s sometimes hard to see what’s missing until someone takes the time to point it out, and for the rock genre we should be thankful of The Void and Robot Space Love for being that much needed reminder.

5 stars out of 5 - Live and Die in Music

Sporting a nineties-retro sonic vibe and some pretty decent songwriting chops, Lethbridge AB’s The Void aren’t exactly indie rock newcomers, but like a lot of struggling bands with a rock and roll dream amidst the crushing realities of every day life, it often takes a while to get your musical footing and establish a way forward. Founding band member and songwriter Jon Vornbrock appears to have things squarely on track now with the latest iteration of the band (which began in 2007) and the release of their debut LP RobotSpaceLove. And you can’t really miss with a Robot theme … can you ? (Kawehi, Dan Mangan, Guided By Voices)

From the opening track “Wave Machine” the fuzz-tone guitar licks, melodic layering and vocal intonation will draw comparisons to J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr), Weezer, and especially Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan. There’s a lot of retro sounding music these days, because quite often what’s old can be new again (although not always a good thing), and in rock and roll terms you can’t really go wrong with nineties’ influences (the most exciting decade in rock music since the seventies). That’s when fans-and-the-industrys’ attention shifted away from misguided, glam-inspired-mutations to become properly focused once again on the artist, thanks in large part to Kurt Cobain who’s enduring legacy still resonates 20 years later. There’s an honesty and integrity to the music, a genuine visceral connection that goes back to rock and roll’s true origins, and The Void have tapped into it, heart and soul. - Rokline Magazine

Hailing from Canada, The Void didn’t receive too much attention from European fans so far. Still their music is definitely worth to be heard. Interesting and experimental, not getting boring at any time, they have been playing their particular sound since 2006. Mastermind Jon Vornbrock spent some time answering a few questions and introduces The Void to you STALKER readers.

Hi guys, how are you doing? Could you first introduce the band and its members for the ones who don’t know you yet?
Great for the most part. We are The Void from Lethbridge Ab Canada. My name is Jon Vornbrock, I’m the Singer/Guitar player, Rob Cooper plays the lead Guitar, Jonny Little plays the Bass & Dean Wilson plays the Drums.
You are influenced by bands like Smashing Pumpkins and T-Rex, to name just a few . How would you yourselves describe your music?
We like to describe it as heavy mellow. We play with a lot of dynamics, but for the most part, no matter how loud or how soft we play, there is always something driving the song.

It’s honestly not the easiest thing to find information about you guys. So the band was formed around 2007 by Jon, how did the idea for this band come up and what happened since then in the band history?
I was in a post punk/indie rock band in 2007 & I would find myself writing acoustic rock songs or garage rock songs that were in the same realm as the Strokes or the International noise conspiracy & I needed a project to toss all these songs into, that essentially turned into the Void. In the beginning it was a lot of Bowie & T-rex type songs, but once I started playing live Void shows, the songs started to get louder & fuzzier. Dean & I were in a Rockabilly band called The Phantom Creeps & our singer quit. Rob & I were in a Hardcore band called Berserker & we couldn’t keep a drummer. Jonny Little just moved back to town & wanted to start playing in a rock band again. The timing was perfect.

In May 2013 you released your first full record is that right? It was called RobotSpaceLove. What should people expect from the record? And where can they get it?
Yes, it’s the first Void record with a full band & it won’t be the last. I’d say you can expect a heavy mellow rock record with great songs from some real people. A lot of the songs are vague & let you interpret them the way you want to. It’s available digitally on Itunes & Amazon. Hard copies are available via Bandcamp.com

I guess you guys already have some experience as musicians, what projects have you been involved before?
I guess I touched on this a little bit so I’ll give you the short list.
Dean - Zombie Birdhouse, Phantom Creeps, Bent Eight, Dirti Speshuls
Jonny - The Forever, Atrophy Manuscript, Moby Dicks, Deadbeats
Rob - Berserker, Dirti Speshuls, Calgary & the Flamers (it might have been Iggy & the Flamers)
Jon - Atrophy Manuscript, Phantom Creeps, Dirti Speshuls, Berserker. The Dirti Speshuls are still active.


What is the most fascinating thing about being a musician, for you guys?
I’d say the best part about being a musician is being able to be with my friends a lot more than I would if I were a suit & briefcase kind of guy. It’s like being a kid again with an excuse to hang out. But the most fascinating part is the moment you’re able to make someone get up & dance or walk out angry or disappointed at a show. I think most people pre determine that before a show anyway, but it’s neat to think about having that kind of control.

You have some funny pictures on your Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/musicisvoid#!/musicisvoid ) with a tiara, how did it come to these pictures?
That was a new years gig. Not sure why but tiaras seem to be a thing people wear on new years. Pretty sure that was just for the picture.

So you guys are hailing from Lethbridge, Canada how does the rock scene there look like? Is it easy for a band to get gigs? Do you get paid for it or how is it?
Lethbridge is a small city 80-90 thousand people, so getting to know the people that book shows is pretty easy. It’s a university town, so the music scene is more active in the spring & fall. We get paid enough to make it worth our time. Not enough to quit our jobs or anything.

Looks like there is a lot going on in Lethbridge anyway, what are the main points our readers shouldn’t miss if they ever visit Lethbridge?
Make sure you stop @ The Slice Bar & Grill or The Owl. Those are the best music venues in Lethbridge & maybe even Canada in my opinion.

Nowadays all the music gets spread over the internet and it slowly kills the Music-Biz. What do you guys think about it and what do you think record labels should change to make it more attractive again for the people to buy the records?
I work in a record store & I think about this every day. I think the internet is - Stalker Magazine

“Avoiding the present 15 minute scenes the Void will reconnect you with the past and give something to look forward to in the future of rock & roll music.” - IndieMinded

Lethbridge, Alberta certainly isn’t one of the first locations you’d suggest finding such a disciplined brand of meandering Fuzz-Rock, The Void play against a backdrop of subtle Rock riffs and grungy irregularities - Exceptionally sweet melodies pose with an explosive Post-Rock urgency, the nature has been eschewed in a non-commercial direction that signals a positive urge to go somewhere with this debut long player. Delightful and climatic Noise-Pop flavourings, play very loud with confidence . - Mojophenia