These San Francisco hipsters have the look you want to know better. They’ve got all the vibin’ velvet vintage clothes from The Haight, the haircuts that take you back to the time of the Rolling Stones (many years before they looked like death), rockin’ at The Purple Onion, and Life Magazine in the ‘60s. They’ve also got the raw modern rock and rolling blues energy to back it all up, and then some.
When we last spoke with Rex Shelverton, Vue’s lead singer and guitarist, he emphasized that although they’re now with RCA after leaving independent label Sub Pop, that move wouldn’t result in a too-polished, sell-out sound on Up For Whatever. He stayed true to his word. Using those vintage tools of the trade, Vue is all about keeping it real, “…we recorded our tracks live. Any edits we did were not made on a computer. They were made with a razor blade and cutting tape,” Rex professed.
If you picked up their Babies Are For Petty E.P. earlier in the year, you’ll hear a few of those tracks on this release, including “Look Out For Traffic” and “Babies Are For Petting”. Although Vue hasn’t strayed too far from the sounds we know and love them for, tracks like “Frozen Juice” or “Are You Restless?”, present a much fuller, more complex style where the keyboards from Jessica Ann Graves mix and dance off of Jonah Buffa’s guitars in a orchestrated fashion. The mood gets more subdued and in-depth with delicate keyboard and seeping, swirling rhythms of “Prettyshapes”.
Yes, Vue is with a major. But that doesn’t always equate to sell out. It can go either way – and Vue proves that if the band is in control AND has that creative freedom, they can sleep at night knowing they haven’t sold their soul. This S.F. group has chosen the road that keeps them real while giving them a budget to realize what they are really capable of, and the ability to partner with producer Nick Launay, who has also worked with the likes of Public Image Limited, Nick Cave, INSX, and Killing Joke.
And as the aptly named, kick back title track goes, “I’m down for whatever makes a decent change…I’m down for whatever feels wrong.” Vue has played for tens of thousands on a Reading stage, or for ten people in some small bar in the Midwest. They’ve enjoyed highs and endured lows, and when it comes down to it, it’s just about their music and moving on to the next town or the next song…and stylin’ all the way.
