victory at sea
Gig Seeker Pro

victory at sea

Band Rock

Calendar

This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

The best kept secret in music

Press


"san francisco bay guardian"


What does a good night consist of on an album that ends with the words "I'll watch you die"? Victory at Sea's third full-length release sounds like the answer is gloomy stories told by a hearth with no wood in it, much less a roaring fire; accusations, to self and others; a distaste for temperate weather.

On The Good Night, the Boston-based trio - Mona Elliott on guitar and vocals, Mel Lederman on bass and keyboards, and Carl Eklof on drums - start with a storm and end up in a lull that makes even death threats sound like something to worry about later. On the first track, "Mary in June," Elliott sings to an exhausted, isolated woman plagued by state-induced heat waves. On the last high notes she can't quite reach but gets to anyway, she sings, "Wishes sometimes comes true / If I could have one wish / I'd give my wish to you," then repeats herself with a force that could be conviction but sounds more like frustration. On "Liar" she describes a state of misplaced trust in its simplest terms - "I repeat what you have told me / What you told me / It's not true" - measuring out her anger in careful, cold syllables and letting it loose in the driving guitar line that takes over the chorus: "So now I / I am a liar / Like you."

The last track, "Firefly," feels slower, more placid, with samples of children and a beach scene, but the lyrics draw a timeline in the sand that connects memories of animal mortalities to a recent affair so ill-fated that someone ends up in a bottle floating out to sea - a victory, maybe. Elliott sounds as if she were made to sing about such personal disasters (I keep thinking of Thalia Zedek, who is, in fact, credited for vocals on the traditional "The Bluebird of Happiness"); she brings a distraught intensity to the simplest lyrics. The best of the album is like that, with highs and lows that make orchestral movements out of worsening moods and unfortunate incidents. (Lynn Rapoport

- San Francisco Bay Guardian


"pitchfork media"

Rating: 8.0

I don't get the indie rock fetish for nautical imagery. It's usually not even appropriate--June of 44's punchy sound was far from the fluid motions of naval life. Rachel's epic The Sea and the Bells must have marked a turning point, because since then, I admit to having heard a diffusion of its effects in Louisville-related projects like the Shipping News. But then there are bands like Volta Do Mar, whose knife-sharp transmissions are more appropriate for a turn on the highway than the sea. Maybe Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild" and Rush's "Red Barchetta" forever closed that road to the scene.

Victory at Sea argue otherwise on Carousel. The vibe on the trio's second full-length shifts without warning from warmth to biting cold, and on the most emotionally gripping songs, lyrical hints of road-trip imagery are tied to the breakup of a relationship. It's dark rock in the vein of the Afghan Whigs; I'm thinking particularly of the guest vocals of Scrawl's Marcy Mays on "My Curse." Victory at Sea frontwoman Mona Elliott croons with a similar ache on the opener, "Third Place." Her guitar meanders softly with shuffling percussion in the beginning as she sings, "From one place to another, not one word to each other." Drummer Fin Moore and bassist Mel Lederman weave rolling rhythms together, accelerating into a fiery chorus as Elliott admits that she can't repress memory forever.

Elliott's voice also reminds me of a sweeter Thalia Zedek, short of a few thousand packs of cigarettes. Turns out to be an appropriate connection--Lederman played piano on Zedek's Been Here and Gone, and Zedek returns the favor in the company of a chorus of women for the conclusion of "The Open Road." Moore proves his prodigious skill on this song, cycling through a series of rolls and crashes like an eight-armed Vedic god, his propulsion only enhanced by the brooding plod of the bass. "The sun hit the windshield like a rock from the sky," Elliott remembers, her only lyric in the song. Then, the inevitable pause, patience, and the soaring chorus and climax that never fails to send a chill up my spine.

Whereas the previous songs begin at one destination and end entirely at another, "The Blizzard of '78" is Victory at Sea's most "pop" song. Elliott's guitar chimes almost cheerily as she describes her street, buried in snow: "The sun, it reflected from the ice to the windows and antennas from the cars shot through the new, higher ground; it was the last time I remember us together." Two verses, two choruses, and then a punchy melody at the ending that will leave you humming for hours but unsure whether you're happy or just damned miserable. Too bad every song can't quite match that lyricism. "The Driver" builds well, with a bluesy riff and shimmering cymbals. Moore kicks in, transforming the piece to a stomping rocker, but Elliott loses steam: "You can drive much faster than me/ I am sometimes much older."

But the rest of the songs lead the listener through more convoluted paths. "Angel" opens with a muted trumpet, and amidst the slow, tense rhythm, Elliott sings of "wings homemade, crocheted out of hearts" of the other jealous angels. The song cuts short before more can be revealed, but likewise, on the closer, "Mermaid," she warns that "they need water to breathe"-- but the water has spilled out. You don't need to flesh out these curious figures to enjoy the turbulent drums and scraping feedback on this final track. "Remember," two tracks before, might have been a more appropriate closer, though, with Lederman's electric piano echoing like a bittersweet Disintegration ballad. I worry that my words haven't done justice to this excellent album. Just imagine a cold winter in the band's hometown of Boston, and all the icy intensity and seasonal weariness that might entail. In case it wasn't obvious, this is one for the road.

- pitchforkmedia.com


Discography

2004 memories fade- sceduled for release oct. 2004 on Gern Blandsten records
2003 Aquarela songs vol.2-Aquareladiscos.-spain
2002 The Good Night-kimchee records
2001 Carousel-kimchee/slowdime
2000 Helms/Victory at sea split ep-kimchee
1999the dark is just the night-slowdime.
1997 Easier than Living-VillaVilakulah
1996 Wishes7" Magic eye singles
1995 Snow 7" Villa Vilakulah
We have recieved a lot of college radio play over the past 9 years.

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

Victory at sea was formed in 1995 by mona elliott, and mel Lederman. Over the past 9 years the have toured the u.s. and europe. Their latest album will be released October 2004 from Gern Blandsten records. The current lineup features Taro Hatanaka on violin and guitar , and Dave Norton on drums. They have been touring with the band for the past 2 years.