Vague Pains – Memory
Vague Pains – Memory – Album Review
Been looking forward to sharing this one!
Sometimes you just know when you’ve found an album that’s gonna speak to you, in the style you’re looking for, you know what I mean? From the moment I clicked play on the new Vague Pains album and heard “Waiting” coming outta my speakers, it was like I felt a personal connection to the music…like there’s an inherent combination of sonic sincerity and artistic ideas that can’t possibly be missed here. Absolutely loving the guitars as this record begins with “Waiting,” and the Indie spirit this whole sound of Vague Pains possesses right from the start. Vocally, it’s more akin to the kind of approach you’d hear from Billy Corgan, where the gentlest parts of the melody come out sounding audibly perfect, and the more fierce moments end up revealing a more reckless-but-controlled type of tone that has real bite to it. That’s not a comparison that’ll run constant throughout this record, but one that seems similar to what you’ll find in the opening track from Zachary Lemon, who as I understand it, is basically doing the lion’s share of the work in Vague Pains at all times. Not necessarily a completely solo project, but pretty damn close from what I’ve read…he occasionally enlists ‘remote collaborators’ to help facilitate his tunes, but where you’ll see credits from the past two records from Vague Pains (self-titled in 2021, and Fragile Rush in 2023), you’ll notice there ain’t a mention of anyone else when it comes to the songs on Memory…so I suppose we assume this album is pure, unfiltered Lemon. Dude’s got the juice to handle his business all by himself from what I can tell – I think the world of “Waiting” as an opening track and first impression…the most you’ll find me conceding to ya is that I’d probably argue that the verses and instrumentation of this initial cut have more organic hooks to them than the chorus of this song does.
So like…listen – I grew up listening to some pretty amazing stuff that would have fit right in with what Vague Pains is doing now. Whether it’s bands from my youth like Superchunk or Belly, or later on down the road in tunes like you’d find in Thriving Ivory or Faded Paper Figures as I continued to grow into my twenties and thirties…you can find similar sounds out there scattered throughout this music scene we share that bear a resemblance to what Vague Pains is doing now. I listen to a track like “Shapeless” and can’t really help but crack a smile, because I can’t get enough of this, truly. I’m confident that a great many of you out there will dig what you hear on Memory as much as I do, but honestly, even if I wasn’t, I’d be just as stoked to have Vague Pains on my personal playlists at any time to be that undiscovered gem that I could haul out at any time to up my own street cred. Basically, I’m more than happy to have’em all to myself…but…I am willing to share Vague Pains with you as well when push comes to shove. “Shapeless” is freakin’ great…kind of like the most energetic/melodic cuts you’d find in an act like Treble Charger from back in the day, where the beautiful meets gritty and none of us would ever think to remotely complain about a combination like that. In any event, I noticed as I was writing this review that no matter which comparison I seemed to come up with, the music I found to be similar always came from a band I liked…so I suppose you could say that Vague Pains is keeping great company. Some of the guitars you’ll find on this record are truly exceptional, and I appreciate the fact that Lemon makes time for them to shine in the solo of “Shapeless.” In addition to that…good lord…I don’t know how he came up with the hook of “oh come shapeless undefined,” but it’s well worth noting how he’s chosen to phrase this piece of his song, and how it doesn’t conform to the rhythm you’d assume that it would by looking at it in the way it’s written out on paper. I love apt, literal cleverness like this, 100%.
“Why Divide” is a potent cut when you’re looking at it on a lyrical level…philosophical, a little political, insightful, internal…it’s got a lot for your brain to chew on, even while using a fairly sparse set of words to achieve what becomes quite a thought-provoking type of tune. Of all bands out there, something like “Why Divide” actually ends up reminding me more of Mogwai than anything else as a result of the way the vocals are buried under such heavy effects. Now…to be entirely fair…the Mogwai tracks that tend to have vocals are usually the ones I end up resisting the most…so don’t get me wrong, I’m not necessarily advocating on behalf of what Lemon is doing here, so much as I appreciate the guy switching things up and trying something new. That being said, even though it reminds me of Mogwai tracks with a similar sound in the vocals, I ended up feeling like I enjoyed that whole vibe more here in the context of this particular record. I did feel like “Why Divide” was the kind of track that will likely be a whole lot more polarising and separate the listeners that are here for something they can easily get into, from those of us that are happy to discover what we’re listening to carries more weight than we originally thought. Lemon’s squeezing out a high level of creativity, and clearly willing to flex his capabilities in a variety of impressive ways. I like the heavy leaning on the synth sounds of “Why Divide,” but overall, it’s really his ability to combine the realms of digital and analog so seamlessly that makes this cut great to listen to.
Zachary continues to excel at switching things up, but in a really fantastic way that keeps this record coherently on the fringe of everything, but careful to not include something that would affect its overall consistency…and I love that. “Counterpane” sticks closer to the roots of a Punk/Pop script than anything we’ve heard so far to this point on the record, but I can pretty much guarantee that’ll end up making this particular track an easy bet to be a fan favorite too. It’s got a brighter sound and more accessible vibe…I figure that’s gotta lead Vague Pains in the right direction when it comes to how the masses out there will listen to this record. It’s a highly spirited sound, I’ll give it that. I’m probably more of a fan of the main hooks on “Counterpane” than I might be of the entire song as a whole, but I can’t really see myself just turning this off either. I guess it’s fair to say that “Counterpane” ends up drifting closer to a variety of other music we’re all familiar with, and terrain that’s fairly well-worn by this point in music’s history. Doesn’t mean I won’t take more of a good thing – I will, and I am – but you will find me leaning more towards the moments that Vague Pains creates more tangible uniqueness and identity for itself in other tunes. Dig the energy on display here all-around though, and I felt like the final minute or so of “Counterpane” brought out the best of this particular track through the instrumentation on display.
Much like I knew this record was gonna be something I’d wanna listen to right from the beginning, I can also hear a song like “Hawthorne” start up & know that it’s gonna be one of the songs that appeals to me directly. Tracks like this one are highly interesting to me, and can often be where the rubber hits the road in terms of how you and I listen to music – if you dig what you hear on “Hawthorne” and feel like this is one of the strongest cuts on Memory, then believe me when I tell ya, we should go for a beer sometime…because we probably like a whole lot of the same kinds of music. Conversely, if you listen to “Hawthorne,” and just hear it as another song on a record…we’re probably not all that similar. I listen to a track like this & feel like I’m genuinely hearing something profound. Where a track like “Counterpane” might have left me wanting for a bit more uniqueness and identity, “Hawthorne” more than makes up for it. The verses are pretty damn cool to begin with, but c’mon y’all…those hooks you’ll find in the chorus are straight-up otherworldly. Which, when you think about it, is quite an achievement when you consider the fact that the main hooks revolve around the single word/name of the song itself…but I’m tellin’ ya…there’s something about the way that Zachary sings “Hawthorne” that is as enigmatic as it is irresistible. In my opinion, he’s added a seriously bulletproof tune to the Vague Pains catalog with this track…”Hawthorne” deserves to be considered up there with the best of the best on this record without a doubt.
Lemon deserves a LOT of credit for what you’re hearing on this new album by Vague Pains…you can absolutely hear the extraordinary connection this guy has to what making music is all about, and while it’s hard to define what that is or pinpoint it to a specific thing…I can tell you it’s something you know when you hear it, and that it can’t be faked. That’s not me telling you that “Forcing A Smile” is the greatest song you’re ever going to hear, or even that Memory is the best album you’re gonna find either – either of these things are more than possible, but I’m saying something bigger than that. I’m telling you directly that Zachary has a gift that others don’t have, and that he’s got an incredible future ahead of him if he continues to keep making music. I really liked the ideas in the way the beat works on this particular cut, and I love the thoughtful distance placed in where the vocals sit as well. For those of you out there that dig your Shoegaze sound, “Forcing A Smile” will be a clear winner for ya. Zachary likely feels similar when it comes right down to it as well – you’ll notice at Bandcamp, that “Forcing A Smile” is set to be the first song you’ll hear at the moment, which I personally think is CRAZY considering how much quality content already comes before it. It’s a solid cut, don’t get me wrong…but I always think it says a lot when artists/bands pick something from the mid-section of their record as opposed to simply going from track one, you know what I mean? There’s too much in the first five tracks on Memory that I know I sure wouldn’t want people to miss out on…”Forcing A Smile” is a great cut to start up the second half of the album with, and likely a solid representation of the sound Vague Pains is striving for…but with that being said, make sure you’re doing yourself a favor & listening to the entire set from start to finish.
“Running On” works for me too! I hate to provide spoilers for you folks out there reading, but I think you’re getting the gist by now – Memory, as a whole, works for me. I’m extremely impressed by the way that Vague Pains has been able to shift and morph its sound so flexibly along the way, and I’m absolutely amazed by how fearless Zachary is when it comes to what he’s willing to try with his music. I think it’s fair to say that tracks like “Running On” might end up being a bit more niche in the sense that, while it’s rooted in a Punk/Pop energy, it’s got that Indie/Shoegaze/Post-Punk sound to it too, which expands the entire sound, but also ends up making it drift to a damn near Progressive territory that incorporates so much into a four minute tune, that it’s bound to challenge listeners a bit more than they’re accustomed to. So yeah…in some ways, “Running On” should almost generate more interest than other tracks by comparison, because there’s so much involved in it…but by that same token, some of the more accessible nature of Vague Pains’ music is somewhat sacrificed to get there. Like…I’ll put it to you this way – if ever there was a track on this record that you’d listen to and start to compartmentalize, it’s this one. “Running On” might very well have your FAVORITE moment in any song on this record, but could still just as likely contain a few others you don’t feel half as passionate about too, you feel me? I’d likely expect the court of public opinion to have its widest range of varying opinions about what they hear on “Running On,” but as I always remind ya, it’s way better to get them talking than to hear them fall silent.
“What’s the phrase the French say, for finding the right words too late…for re-rehearsing a scene that’s already been played…” – LOOK at those lyrics, will ya? If you can’t understand the kind of difference that is being established lyrically in a song like “L’esprit de L’escalier” in comparison to the majority of what’s out there on your playlist, then please start paying closer attention. And I can promise you this – there have been multiple instances along the way that I could have easily pulled a quote or two for ya – Zachary’s got an in-depth understanding of what makes lyrics stand out, and when you consider that he’s using that in tandem with what makes his music so unique as well…I mean…c’mon – it’s the perfect storm when it comes to getting real art, noticed. I also think one of the most understated elements of WHY a track like “L’esprit de L’escalier” works so brilliantly, is because the bass ain’t complicated, but it’s used to its absolute maximum effect. When you factor in how steady that aspect is, and how it frees up the rest of the instrumentation to chime in along the way, or how it might even drop out all together to make the rest of the music stand out on its own before bringing it all back on a unified front – I mean, you gotta hand it to Zachary here…this track shows real innovation and creativity combined in the fabric of its composition. Every time I spun my way through this record over the course of this week, I kept coming back to “L’esprit de L’escalier” as one of my clear favorites in the lineup. Kind of reminds me of something that we’d find from The Quality Of Mercury, and you dedicated readers already know how I’d feel about that – The Quality Of Mercury permanently lives on our Wall Of Fame after winning our affections as our Best New Sound of 2016, so a comparison to that has gotta be a good thing, right?
For all of a minute and twenty seconds, I think a lot of you are gonna be surprised by how moving the title-track on this record is gonna be. Do I have any criticisms of this FLAWLESS moment in time? Hell yes I do! A minute and twenty seconds? Where the other HOUR AND A HALF of this? I could have listened to this track for forever…and I might just have to pick up a copy of Memory so that I can loop this song and trip myself out into another plain of existence through some serious sonic meditation. I’ll forgive him this time and expect my day-long remix is already in the mail or currently being uploaded. You get the point. Sometimes music surprises you in the greatest of ways. Honestly, I never expect to be all that attached to songs less than two-minutes in length, let alone one like this that’s not even ninety seconds in total, but here we are and that’s the case. I mean…I can’t be the only one that ended up feeling this way, right? Zachary did end up naming the entire album after this tune here…just sayin.’
“Arrow Of Time” is a stunning conclusion to what’s been a thoroughly fantastic album to listen to. I really don’t have any significant complaints…this is pretty much a no-notes situation here, and I feel like the best thing we can all do is stand back, let Zachary do what he does, and continue to watch him grow, evolve, and flourish at his own rate and pace. Dude’s got all the right instincts when it comes to the art of making music, and the more he believes in that & trusts his capabilities, the further he’s gonna go. There’s a very good chance he’s ended this album on the best tune of the bunch, though I genuinely feel like I could have made a great case for any of these songs in the set-list…this is a collection of seriously excellent material. The most I’ll concede to ya in regards to the album as a whole, is that more-so than any particular song itself being memorable, is the experience itself. You know what I mean? Like, I don’t know which individual track (okay, “Hawthorne,” it would be “Hawthorne”) that I’ll remember more than the experience of checking out Vague Pains and wanting to fully immerse myself in this entire record – that’s what’s more memorable to me than anything else, but that should count, shouldn’t it? Heck, it should probably even count for a little bit more in my estimation…Memory stands as a full body of work in its own right, rather than being boiled down to a handful of single-worthy songs. This is one of those albums you want to experience from start to finish, and a wildly satisfying one at that. Of all the most tangible hooks you’ll find on this record, or what we’d typically expect to find in hooks as we’ve come to define them, “Arrow Of Time” arguably has the most memorable ones to be found when Zachary sings “we will keep safe what we feel…oh we are” – it’s bold, it’s beautiful, it’s evocative…and it’s kind of everything really. It’s a fantastically gripping last dose of Vague Pains to go out on, and it creates a conclusive finale that not only makes you wanna cheer for all that Lemon has accomplished, but also has you rabidly craving another spin to continually mine this album for all the gems it contains.
Find out more about Vague Pains from the official website at: https://vaguepains.com
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