Vempire are a horrosynth/dance duo from Lincoln, Nebraska. We’ve previously featured Vempire back in March for one of their maxi singles. Additionally, Vempire features Lindsey Yoneda of ghostlike and Mikey Elfers, who is the frontman of comedic synth-punk band Thirst Things First whom we just featured a few weeks ago. In a talk I had with Elfers, he told me that, as much as he enjoys being silly with Thirst Things First, he’s “enjoying being serious for once” with Vempire. This duo put out a new LP over the summer called Your Steps and followed that up in October with an EP mostly of remixes in October called Fumes. Both of them are up on Bandcamp, so let’s talk about both of them.
Your Steps opens on an infectious dance tune with a pulsing beat and a creative title named “screenshots.png.EXE” which features Plack Blague on a guest spot. It’s dense in its electronic elements on this one, creating a thick, moody track that really makes you want to dance. Then “Shake” and “Blattodea,” which were featured on the maxi single from this band that we covered the last time we talked about them, are stark contrasts in that the former is a pulsating dance track and the latter and the later is a slower, more melancholy track. Then “Electricity” brings back the pulse-pounding energy with an almost delicately beautiful vocal performance that really makes the track more dynamic.
Their single “Eclipse” was featured on a previous maxi single, so this album features a remix of the track called the “Toilet Rats Melatonin Mix,” which is about as trippy as it sounds, but it’s also deeply ethereal with a touch of dream pop. “Love Potion Number Slime” is one of the catchiest damn songs the band has ever put out, and it’s still got that same ethereal, dream pop element to it at times. The Permadef mix of their track “Fumes” brings a touch of emo to a wistfully emotional dance pop song. “Sunglasses,” which was the band’s first single, slows down enough to put the vocals and the lyrics front and center, which benefits this song because it’s got great lyrics.
The title track of the album is slyly clever while still creating a deeply danceable track that would fit in at any dance club. The version of the album on Bandcamp finishes out with a handful of remixes of tracks from earlier on the album, including more darkly sinister take on “Love Potion Number Slime” with the Starsylvania mix, two wildly different takes on “Shake,” and the Permadef mix of the title track which makes the song a bit more complicated and busy, but it pays off.
As the first complete artistic statement from a new band, Your Steps proves to be an outstanding collection that really encapsulates a band with nowhere to go but up. Check out the album below.
Follow the Your Steps LP, the band put out a follow up EP called Fumes which features the original mix of “Fumes,” which did not appear on Your Steps, a few new tracks, and a smattering of remixes of songs from the LP. First of all, the original mix of “Fumes” is hard to compare to the Permadef mix from the LP because they’re both excellent and both add that emo element to electronic music, but the original mix is arguably even catcher than the remix. Then new track “Pet Sematary” is a song with a dark ambiance but occasional moments of hope and happiness sprinkled throughout. The screenshots.slasher.wmv mix of “screenshots.png.EXE” adds these really catchy handclaps which makes the song potentially even more deeply infectious, which contrasts the harsh screaming that comes in after about a minute and a half into the song.
The Violet Ghost mix of “Sunglasses” goes even more synth heavy and, while the original mix put the vocals at the center of the song, the remix buries them in dream pop creating a very different, but equally mesmerizing, experience. The Synth Lovers Cafe mix of “Electricity” really strips the song down to its basic elements, putting more emphasis on the original vocals, which really stand on their own when isolated. Then we get another new track called “Programmed for You,” the band’s first to feature Permadef in a guest spot instead of as the remixer, and the swirling synths brings out a darker form of what we think of as dream pop. The Candid Black remix of “Your Steps” feels very ’80s new wave-esque with a straight-forward dance beat contrasted by moments when the beat drops out and the synth carries things on its own. Finally, the Vapor mix of “Fumes” slows down everything, even the vocals, to bring out a very different but equally evocative emotional experience.
Between the outstanding brand new songs and the impressive new takes on old ones, the Fumes EP offers up a lot of great tracks that demonstrate, once again, what this band is all about. Check out the Fumes EP below.
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Photo courtesy of Vempire
