The Vulcan Nerve Pinch – Frequently Used Shortcuts in Recording Demo Tapes

Not being much of a trekkie, I didn’t get the significance of the band’s name until the explanation on track 5. But the CD’s title must rank as one of the better (if not best) in recent rock and pop recording history.

The VNP are a Bloemfontein-based outfit whose preferred style of music is – broadly – grunge. Guitarist Jake Kritzinger sings in the strained, urgent style of EddieVedder, and additional grungey elements are the unpredictability in the chord department, the toying with light and shade, as well as the turbo-charged rhythm section of Francois Marais (bass and additional vocals) and Jaco de Wet (drums).

An enticing drum figure kicks off track 1(Extreme Fake Over), while track 2’s (Stop + Listen) beginning is a distant cousin of Status Quo’s psychedelic classic Pictures of Matchstick Men, a cut on which JK’s voice is perhaps a little less convincing than on the other tracks. Marais features more prominently on track 3, (Alphabetic Listings) the fourth cut (Madeira Cove), fulfilling a more harmonic function, albeit in deeply distorted mode. Essentially, this is a mini album, with ‘track 5’ consisting of a radio broadcast and re-run of the previous 4 cuts, the band providing English/ Afrikaans comment on the proceedings. This is a great idea, as it provides an inroad for the uninitiated.

While listenable, the band’s sound is not very original. Then again, there are arguably very few bands in recent years that can claim this – Nirvana, Radiohead, Morphine … and perhaps Lark in South Africa. Nonetheless, this mini album furnishes four good reasons for looking forward to the band’s first full-length release. 

Kai Horsthemke

March 2006