Seriously, what the fuck happened? The grubby hordes representing the indie mediocrity looked dead and buried. Then complacency set in, and a new shower of bastards arrived. ‘Nu-rave’ dicks dressing like deprived estate kids in 1987? Look, put the 2 Unlimited live-in-Utrecht bootleg down, and step away from the fluorescent shell suit. There’s a suave new gang in town, bringing edge, wit and – egads! – fun back to the proceedings.
Breaking-up can be hard to do. Bands in crisis often face separate tourbuses, periods in shock-therapy and communicating through lawyers, before the fabled – cough – ‘creative differences’ spiel rears its ugly head. While hardly Metallica’s ‘Some Kind Of Monster’, the disintegration of Vincent Vincent & The Villains’ initial line-up proved difficult to swallow. “There were a conflict of interests, because one of the members had another band,” mulls Vincent. “We all drifted apart – we were moving in different directions and eventually a rift got wider. It wasn’t a very productive situation to be in, so that had to come to an end, as much as we didn’t want to face up to it at the time.” Fortunately, they didn’t sack it off for a spell in Primark. Vincent (guitar/vocals), and fellow original member Alex (drums) promptly hooked-up with Tom (guitars) and Will (bass), who were unabashed fans of the group. “We thought it was a shame there wouldn’t be The Villains anymore, so it was great for us to come in and help realise a lot of those songs,” says Tom. “I never allowed myself time to wallow in misery. We had all these songs and a load of gigs that were coming up – big gigs,” adds Vincent. “We felt like we’d just come so far. You just have to put your head down and be really bullish and just drive through it. Speaking personally, this band is my dream, and I wouldn’t have let anything get in the way of that.”
Rather than roping-in some mulleted muso tossers from the back of Guitar Mania, bringing-in friends allowed Tom and Will to “gel really quickly” into the dynamic of the band, and help build what Vincent describes as a “tighter, harder sound” where “the musicianship has jumped a few notches”. Their now fully-realised songs feature taut rockabilly rhythms and grimy rock and roll riffs, twitchy late-70’s new wave and bleary-eyed rinky-dink pop. They’re certainly the only band that could make you think of Roy Orbison, The Zombies, Vic Goddard and Lonnie Donegan within the space of the same song. Understandably, this has distanced them from their Doherty-bumming, Clash-aping London contemporaries. “It’s not really any of our concern,” Tom affirms. “There’s lots of good bands out there, but we’re not thinking about fitting-into a scene or being part of anything. It’s convenient for journalists and for younger fans, ‘cos they want to feel part of something – part of a movement. It’s quite dangerous for a band to be a part of that, particularly if something catastrophic happens to one of the bands”. Vincent pipes up in agreement. “It’s a gamble. You network to know other bands and then you get involved quicker… you climb up the ladder but it’s slippery. We tried to consciously avoid it, and as a result we don’t have the baggage that goes with it.”
Some of London’s indie shitterati have been quick to scoff at the band’s strong sense of music, flair and style, labelling them as some kind of Mark Lamarr-esque, oily-haired 50’s throwbacks. “We get the quiff thing, ’50s quiff,” smiles Tom. “There’s grease – there’s lots of that – but we ain’t got quiffs!” “I think we just dress smart,” adds Vincent. “I wear some ’50s clothes, but we all just dress smartly and it goes together – we don’t consciously go for a specific look.” This statement proves more admirable when considering The Villains have recently put pen-to-paper with uberlords of evil, EMI. “There hasn’t been any push to change the way we are. If we’d been really malleable or styled… it’s so much easier for a band like that to just get shaped,” Alex affirms.
Commendably, the band have managed to uphold a cottage industry aesthetic, deliberating over their artwork, videos and photoshoots, and rallying friends to help out. “We’ve got a good unit in that everything is done amongst the band, like a self-sufficient unit,” Vincent notes. “I like that sort of handmade, honest approach – it’s not really glossy or slick. It’s quite ramshackle! I don’t want us to sound glossy or slick either… our music and our style and everything else is honest, it comes from the heart and isn’t sorted out beforehand – everything is a natural progression. It’s a good position to be in when you’re in control of all those elements.”
This band is my dream, and I wouldn’t have let anything get in the way of that.
Vincent & co. can currently be found “paying their dues” on a hard slog across Britain, promoting future chart-shagger ‘Johnny Two Bands’ [as featured on Clash’s ‘Ones To Watch Vol.1 CD], which details their earlier intra-band turmoil. Undoubtedly in their element live, the band have a rickety theatricality about them, throwing crooked shapes and Vincent channelling the spirit of “singers like Screaming Jay Hawkins or Richard Hell”. Alex keenly recognises this. “A live performance is theatrical, by the very nature of being up there on a stage. You’ve got a bit of responsibility – whether you choose to take it up or not – that you’re performing.” “It’s not enough to go and play,” concurs Vincent. “The songs – as brilliant as they are and everything – you have to put everything into them, and when you’re really going for it that’s when it comes out of you naturally. We all really enjoy pulling silly poses and making odd voices, it’s part of us getting carried away… there’s no pyrotechnics!” While a Motley Crue-style dramatic bonanza may be some years away from the grot holes of Swindon and Bournemouth, there’s no excuse for not investigating this mini-spectacular.
Perhaps a clue to the band’s future may be found in the single’s b-side, ‘7” Record’. A homage to the only plastic, 7” object your mum doesn’t take to bed, Vincent describes it as being “about when I used to buy old rock and roll 7”s and be really excited about it. I like the idea that someone might get that same experience from buying our record, playing it again and again and dancing round their room. It’s fulfilling some kind of prophecy!” Despite the suspicious sci-fi undertones in his statement, his words ring-true. Prepare to be dazzled by the classiest mob around.
