Album Review: TheVintage Caravan - Gateways

When you're dealing with a band called The Vintage Caravan, you know what you're going to be getting; vintage rock and roll of the classic variety. And while I give a lot of such bands a chance, and do love the sonic aesthetic, there's something about branding yourself as the past that limits your future. How can we ever expect any growth and development from a band that already is telling you they live firmly in the past? It's one thing if a band is playing that kind of music because that just so happens to be how they sound, but it's another one when they make it clear it was a choice. Art isn't supposed to be a choice, it's supposed to be who you are. But as we already know, music is as much business as it is art.

In the first minute of this record, the band hits several tropes. There is the production, which sounds like a more polished 70s record. There are the riffs, which are the heavy blues Zeppelin imitators have been playing for over forty years. And there is even some cowbell, as if to drive it home that they take as much inspiration from that SNL skit as they do classic bands.

Oskar's vocals are a weak point, his husky delivery neither matching the tone of the music, nor sounding particularly good under the drips of echo and reverb that are covering up for him. He is saved mostly by the nature of the music, which is entirely tilted towards the guitars to do everything interesting. He doesn't offer up much in the way of melody at any point on the record, which is the common thread that binds far too many of these backward-looking rock bands. It is rare to see them write songs that are lush and memorable. For a sound inspired by 'classic rock', almost none of it comes with the potential of one day being classic itself.

"Gateways" is a perfectly acceptable record, but it has nothing about it that screams for your attention. This could easily be a Witchcraft album, or a Horisont album, or any number of other bands. That's the problem with taking heavy inspiration from the past; unless you are doing something different, or truly excel with your songwriting, the music blends into the fabric of history. Graveyard carved out their niche by being expert songwriters, and Blues Pills by adding in a sense of soul no one else has, but The Vintage Caravan is too much what we've already heard a hundred times before.

But if you like vintage rock, you already know you're going to enjoy this record a certain amount. It fits the style well, and has redeeming qualities if all you want is another similar record to add to the rotation. Personally, I want to hear something slightly different or sharper from these kinds of bands, and I don't get that here. "Gateways" is decent, but decent isn't good enough to cut through the static. I'm not sure how many will be walking through the gate The Vintage Caravan has opened here.