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Vacants: In Transit

You may have read about Vacants in the previous issue of this magazine - they’re the Auckland noise-rock trio who met at Polytech in 2004 - and promptly “started jamming”. Their sound, turning indie-rock on its ear, is a welcome respite from too-clever-for-its-own-good shoe gazer rock. These guys have grunt, they have balls - and importantly they have some great songs. Black Iris, No Fun and the title track touch on the work of The Mint Chicks and though Vacants are not quite as off the wall as them or So So Modern, it is brilliant to see this sort of sound coming back into NZ music. Rock music that rocks - but can also be slightly weird. Songs that flow - but also roll around drunk for a bit. It reminds me, in some ways, of back when The Hallelujah Picassos were putting on their incendiary shows. These guys could grow in to a very fine band. I like the fact that not every song sounds similar - but it all still sounds like the same band. That’s the crucial ingredient often missing in our songwriting; have a distinctive voice, sure, but vary it. These guys have done just that.

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