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VENETIC: Signs And Pointers

This is the sixth release from Venetic – what started out as a 4-piece band, is now the sole vision of one Wayne Stuart McCallum of Wellington. And what does Venetic mean? More or less, adjective, foreign, alien, intruder. That all sticks; this is certainly an individual sort of a release. Low-fi, quirky, it’s got ‘self-released’ written all over it. Venetic dresses as a Mummy, and I’m not sure if there has been any live gigs to showcase this material, but I’d be interested in seeing how it comes off. In the meantime, I can say that McCallum is a good lyricist/poet, but that the music needs some major tweaking/editing on the production side. The three solely instrumental tracks all disappoint, including opener Quantitative Easing, which is a great title but amounts to a cheesy synth-organ number similar to what used to get played in cinemas before the main feature in the ’70s. When vocals are present the feel is a bit David Kilgour but with more mellow musical accompaniments. The main strength of Venetic is the songwriting, and I’d like to see the lyrics taken on by others for re-interpretation. Am I Cool Enough? is an unpolished gem in particular. By the sixth release we all expect more.

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