TRACK REVIEW: Vice Killer – Displeasure EP

Peterlee-based Vice Killer’s new EP departs from earlier, flavourless indie rock songs weighed down by a maximalist electric sound. The lyrics have matured: Heroine evokes a mood of grandeur and worship and Midnight Walking billows out into painterly landscape. The swaying, sparkling voice of Thomas Gilling and an effortlessly tight guitar allows melody to develop with a soft alchemy.

In Midnight Walking, songwriting borders on childishness, but such earnest romanticism is passable. Gilling’s vocals echo folk rock bare of instrumental weight. With remnants of indie, this turn to folk is the most promising piece of music I have heard from Vice Killer so far. It is unusual to witness a musical shift from contemporary to traditional. Look out for beautifully ascending melodies in the track Displeasure.