Blitz Vega: Northern Gentleman
(FutureSonic Records/CEN/The Orchard)
Vinyl | CD | DL
Available now: https://www.futuresonicrecords.com/
Emerging like a phoenix from the flames of a great loss, Blitz Vegas’s posthumous debut album combines searing, raucous, pulsing Mancunian Indie Classicism, atmospheric electronica, and a strutting, seething, life-affirming, seventies glam stomp, and provides a fitting epitaph for the late, great Andy Rourke.
There never seems to be enough time…
For us to say the things we need to say, or do the things we need to do…
The inevitability of our own mortality can seem overwhelming…
But still, we fight on…
For sometimes how we leave this life is as important as how we have lived it…
Because what we leave behind us matters…
The passing of legendary ex -Smiths bassist Andy Rourke from Cancer on the 19th of May 2023, understandably devastated his family and close friends, and sent seismic shock-waves not only through the British musical community, but throughout the world. At the time of his passing, Andy was a member and co -founder of Blitz Vega, the band his great friend and former Happy Mondays Guitarist, Kav Sandhu had formed back in 2016.
Blitz Vega, consisting of Andy Rourke(bass), Kav Sandhu (guitar / lead vocals),Asa Brown (keyboards / backing vocals), Thom Arizmendi (guitar), Greg Gent (guitar / backing vocals), Craig Eriksson (drums), were officially launched in 2019, and despite the two friends seemingly instantly striking a potent musical partnership, the band’s future was rocked by two stunning blows. Firstly, the Covid Pandemic, which obviously made recording the album difficult, but even more tragically, Andy’s diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer, the gravity of which called into question the notion of the band even being able to complete the recording and production of their debut album, Northern Gentleman.
Though the restrictions enforced by the pandemic would eventually pass, and when he was able, Andy would still help in the studio working with the rest of the band on the album tracks, by mid-2023, his health had irretrievably worsened and sadly he knew he was dying. Despite this awful news, Andy, in a gesture typical of the man, made Kav promise him that he would not only finish and record their debut album in his absence, but later take the band out on the road and tour the album too.
Finally released on September 27th , Blitz Vega’s debut album, Northern Gentlemen, named in honor of Andy, is not only the fulfillment of a solemn promise to a dying friend made manifest, it is the realization of a musical and personal journey, that although seeped in tragedy, is overwhelmingly infused with vibrant life, the immortality of memory, and the joy of living.
For although specters of grief haunt the grooves of this record, this album is no somber wake! It is a life-affirming, rollicking, thrilling, kinetic, sometimes unbearably poignant tribute, not only to the healing power of rock and roll, but to heroic resilience in the face of overwhelming odds, and to an unyielding, unbreakable friendship, over which death has no dominion.
Indeed, the album pulses into throbbing life with the yearning, driving, Disconnected, which calls to mind some of great Mancunian indie classics of the past, whilst furiously carving out its own identity with a swaggering sense of self-assurance. It is a sensuous post pandemic plea for simple human intimacy and connection, in a world of emotional dislocation and enforced distance, and suffocating digital technology.
Kav’s effortlessly cool vocals intoning the killer chorus of ‘I wanna be feeling, I wanna be touching, I wanna be loving…I wanna spend my time with you…’ against a backdrop of swirling synths and coruscating guitar. Andy‘s bass throbbing and writhing through the spine of the song with a desperate urgency, while its glacial guitars, chiming with the atmospheric resonance of prime Dave Fielding era Chameleons, slice through the melody like the tip of a vengeful iceberg.
The anthemic, Stay Strong Forever follows, some gorgeous synths layered over another killer bass line, and features Andy’s great friend Johnny Marr sprinkling some typically intricate, chiming guitar licks over its melody. The song feels like an anthem of support for those feeling helpless, or experiencing hardships in their lives, whether they be physical, financial, or mental. The chorus soars with empowering defiance and when Kav intones ‘We’ve got the the love , we got the power, we in it together, stay strong forever’ you might just believe him.
The gorgeous Hole in my Heart sees some raw, but chiming, guitar high up in the mix, and which peals through the song with an yearning, emotive quality, seemingly healing your heart even as it is breaking it.The song swoons with a rolling swelling melody, sweet synths and perfectly judged Phil Spector drums and shimmering electronic chorus, enhanced by heartfelt lyrics, which, rightly or wrongly, in the light of recent events, seem unbearably poignant. And when Kav sings earnestly, ‘’I got a whole in my heart for you, and there’s nothing I can do…Until I see you again…’ its hard not to make the correlation, with Andy’s passing, although it is an undeniably moving song in any context.
The snarling, feedback drenched, but exhilarating Big Nose, with it thunderous drums, sew-sawing mewling guitars, and raw live feel, illustrates the musical versatility of the band, sounding like a potent mix of Nirvana, The Fall and Oasis and the New York Dolls , Kav channeling vocally, his inner Mark E Smith and Liam Gallagher, as he spits out the stomping, furious chorus of ‘ I don’t want you to ever like me , I just want you to come and fight me, spreading lies with your evil mind, now its time to answer for your crime’
Perhaps the most defining track on Northern Gentlemen is Lost Myself, which despite its strident chiming guitar, and urgent bass and drums, aches with the pain of losing Andy, especially on its swooning, evocative chorus, with Kav singing, with undeniable pathos against a swell of lilting synths, ‘ I lost myself in a moment of sadness, I lost myself in a moment of madness, I couldn’t help you, I couldn’t save you, take a step back, I’ll never forget you,’ the gorgeous, redemptive, writhing guitar break, only adding to the emotive power of the song, which could make an glass eye weep such is its raw truth.
Fat beats, 1950’s sci-fi film atmospherics, and the static drenched plea of a distant ‘Mayday, Mayday’ on a faltering radio, and a growling, fuzzy guitar intro, issues in the seething, Lost and Found, Kav’s vocals sneering out the defiant chorus ‘Won’t let it ,Won’t let take me apart…’ It is an exhilarating fist in the face of fate, and another is example of this band’s musical versatility.
A Whiovian acoustic guitar intro, wave like rolling drums, and what sounds like the sweet chimes of Mandolins, and brooding, atmospheric synths, drenches High Gravity, with a swaggering menace, the repeated mantra of ‘It’s what I want’ building in intensity as the song progresses.
The glorious rush of life that is Love City follows, an exhilarating blast of classic glam Bowie meets Psychedelia, with its wailing siren guitars motif, and throbbing bass, the song careers joyously, like a getaway car at night through a neon drenched city, while ‘LA Vampire’ with its scuzzy, addictive chorus of refrain of, ‘LA vampires, pale face assassins, collecting souls in harmony’ perfectly summing up its caustic lyrical conceit, while the glorious ‘Pass the Gun’ ends Northern Gentleman on a fittingly joyous high, being both funky and joyously life affirming, the sample of ‘Shall we do it again?’ from Derek B’s 1988 track Good Groove, encapsulating the sense of joy and pleasure inherent throughout the album.
We all love to laud and romanticize our musical heroes, especially when death takes them tragically prematurely, but how many of these artists can truly be said to have been beloved, not only by their fans, but more importantly by the people who really knew them, their family, friends, and lovers?
Few in truth perhaps…
But Andy Rourke was one…
It is easy to make bold promises during times of trauma, much harder to keep them in the wake of a loss, but with the release of Northern Gentleman and the forthcoming tour, Kav has more they fulfilled his vow to his friend. Northern Gentlemen is not only a stunning record in its own rights, and a magnificent achievement by Kav and the band, it is a fitting epitaph to Andy Rourke, and a musical life less ordinary.
When asked earlier in the year about his hopes for Northern Gentlemen Kav Sandhu answered simply that he hoped to make an album that ‘Andy would be proud of…’
Mission accomplished Kav…
Mission accomplished…
Blitz Vega is on Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter)
~
Words by Stephen Canavan. Find his author archive here.
We have a small favour to ask. Subscribe to Louder Than War and help keep the flame of independent music burning. Click the button below to see the extras you get!
