A long time ago Vroom was punk rock, then they were indie rock and now they're just rock. Since they started, the four guys from Virginia have been one of the most promising bands in the indie scene, yet for some reason they remain unsigned.
"A Five Song Demonstration" starts out just where "Throws Like a Girl" left off with lead guitar hooks and catchy vocal melodies. The first song "The Human Machine" rocks out for the most part, except for the acoustic bridge. Track two "He Seems Like a Nice Guy" is another poppy song, which uses keyboards. Like track one, it also hits some slower spots in the middle, but then recovers with the upbeat ending. Next is "Bored with Overindulgence, Poverty Became Fashionable," which is a darker song that experiments with tempo changes. The experiment seems to work, but Vroom's specialty is still high-energy pop songs. Track four "Soundtrack Song" could be Vroom's attempt at a rock ballad, which isn't bad for that sort of thing, but it reeks of boring piano rock. Also, the background vocals don't seem to fit. With the final track "Untitled," Vroom gets back to singing anthemic tunes with clever lyrics such as: "Like I said I would return cryogenically preserved."
On the whole, "A Five Song Demonstration" does a good job of showcasing Vroom's talent. However, while the songs are better than their first album "Things Not to Do," they're nowhere near as good as "Throws Like a Girl." "Do Rock 'n' Roll dreams come true?" Well, here's to hoping that they do for Vroom.
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Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2002Reviewed by Trae CadenheadVroom is a difficult band to pigeonhole into any specific genre. One can easily state that their music resides somewhere in the broad land of alternative music and be true in that statement, but that certainly does not explain much. Vroom is rock and roll at heart, yet in a way that no other rock band has ever been. One could throw out words like emo, punk, and rock to describe the band's last…Similar sounding releases
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