Vaz
photo coutesy GSL
Anyone who has been reading these tortured ramblings for awhile knows I have a strong affinity for the “Noise Rock” sounds of the ’90’s. One of my all-time favorites was the Minneapolis godhead trio Hammerhead. After the demise of Hammerhead in 1997 bassist Paul Erickson (aka Apollo Liftoff) and drummer Jeff Mooridian (aka Deft Garlands ) carried on as a two-piece under the moniker of Vaz. Their two albums ( 2000’s Demonstrations in Micronesia and 2003’s Dying To Meet You) are both crammed with tracks featuring spaced out riffs, scifi lyrics and sleepy, low key vocals. It all adds up to some dense, moody material. Creepy (in a good way) stuff.
Currently operating out of Brooklyn, Vaz have recently added a third member, Adam Mark, on guitar. They have also finished recording their third album which will hopefully be out some time in the near future. A couple of my favorites:
from Demonstrations in Micronesia
Vaz - Blocked By Satellites.mp3
Vaz - Forgotten Classic.mp3
from Dying To Meet You
Vaz - Blue Lip Special.mp3
Vaz - Freon Suite #2.mp3
>> Buy Demonstrations in Micronesia from Load Records
>> Buy Dying To Meet You from Gold Standard Labs
>> Official Vaz homepage
>> Grunnenrocks Vaz page
2 Comments so far
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Nice post. This is top notch stuff. I do prefer Demonstrations over Dying, but I am really curious to hear the 3rd record. Unless Im mixing it up with something else, I heard they were doing some sort of rock opera or experimental record…
[…] Duh, The Big City was Hammerhead’s finale, and displays the fractures of band coming apart. Sanders left the band at some point before the album was released, and only includes 4 tracks with him. Erickson played the guitar on the remaining cuts, and the best results, featured below, foretell what was to happen when Erickson and Mooridian regrouped as Vaz. […]