Recording of the Week, Pacifica from Australian quartet The Vampires

This week my attention has turned to things Antipodean: I’ve had the tunes from Australian indie-rock band Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever’s debut album Hope Downs stuck in my head, which then prompted me go back to eighties favourites such as The Go-Betweens and New Zealand’s The Chills (Pink Frost surely ranking as one of the most disturbing singles of all time) for an extended fix. Now I’ve happened upon the music on Australian jazz label Earshift Music and the rather fine album Pacifica by The Vampires (the name sounds more like a goth band from Camden rather than jazz from down under) which has kept me down under musically. Their format is a classic jazz quartet line-up: Jeremy Rose on sax and bass clarinet, Nick Garbett on trumpet, and in the rhythm section Alex Boneham on bass, and Alex Masso handling the the drums. However, there is nothing formulaic about the group’s sound, especially with the excellent recording that isn’t afraid to apply more modern production techniques such as subtle compression or tasteful effects.

The Vampires have a knack for quickly establishing each track as its own unique tone poem, often through very small details. Sample the track West Mass and pay attention to the tiny inflections Masso achieves from the bongo (or is it a tabla?), conjuring a sort of slide guitar effect. They’re not afraid to add reverb either, giving Garbett’s muted trumpet the impression of drifting across water, foregrounding Rose’s rounded bass clarinet. I detect a distinct sympathy for lounge music underlying the group’s aesthetic on this record– flicking through the fourteen (relatively short) tracks can feels a bit like dropping the needle at random through one of those sixties Nice ‘n’ Easy compilations (that you can still find in charity shops if you’re lucky), each selection having its own flavour. First track Tofik sounds uncannily like a samba tune from a long-lost James Last LP, and then Little Mountain comes across like Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass. Don Pacifico manages to integrate dub effects to the drums, without managing to sound like a pastiche – with space echo style delay on the horns and pushing some of the rimshots in just the right way. There are more groove-based pieces, Vampage being a memorable example, Boneham’s bass holding down the rhythm whilst Masso puts in some funky hat and cymbal work. Just as Rose and Garbett work together as a duo, closely interweaving their lines, mirroring and refracting melodic ideas from each other, Boneham and Masso work together, understanding that less is more, and the implication of a beat is often more effective than spelling everything out.

This is a very enjoyable set that is worth spending some quality time with, and I look forward to discovering more riches in the Earshift catalogue.