Vain All Those Strangers
by Derric Miller
Staff Writer
You remember Vain, right? The band that came from out of nowhere to slap you across the teeth with their video for “Beat the Bullet,” back in the decade when MTV actually played videos? (That’s be the 1980s.) Like 90 percent of the bands at that time, the Grunge movement came in and traded Aqua Net poofy locks for shitty nanny-goat facial hair. A large portion of those bands deserved to die a depressing, unpoetic death, as they cannibalized the movement around them and helped make a mockery of it, but not Vain. Vain was raw yet melodic, infused with honest attitude and a Punk edge that only Guns N Roses pulled off with more aplomb. In fact, Vain’s release On the Line in 2004 was a critic (but maybe not fan) favorite; Vain kept getting better, even though no one was listening. Well in between their debut No Respect and On the Line was All Those Strangers, a 1991 release that is just now seeing the light of day.
All Those Strangers picks up immediately where you’d want it to, hitting angrily with “Love Drug,” with lead singer Davy Vain’s semi-crooing sleazy vocal style making those lyrics just drip with depravity. If you think Stephen Pearcy sang sheer sex, Vain has always done him one better. Davy’s pacing on the vocals has always been weirdly staccato yet effective, like he bites off the sentences. The guitar solo rips, with Davy West laying down a complete Hair Metal solo, and Vain never sounded so good …
“Planets Turning” you can actually find on the new Delany release Blaze and Ashes. How a song written in 1991 fit onto a concept album in 2009, based on German writer Wolfgang Hohlbein’s fantasy novels (books Davy Vain surely never read) is a discussion for another day. That conundrum aside, “Planets Turning” is Vain doing what they do best, playing a dark melody, and Davy singing with a sense of longing you can’t fake. The foreboding guitar passages, the crescendo to the chorus is just anthemic. This is a brilliant song no matter when or why it was recorded.
Vain did get into trouble with their simplistic lyrics at times, and “Shooting Star” is one of those choruses you can understand why they had detractors. “She’s a shooting star. Here, and now she’s gone, real far. I know that girl she wants it all, cuz she’s a shoot-shoot-shooting star!” They surely could have done better than that.
“Here Comes Lonely” is another wicked track, and can be found on Delany as well. Although re-recorded for that release, hearing it with less polish makes it much more enthralling. The sleaze factor is off the charts; it makes you think you will have needle marks after hearing it, even if you’ve never done drugs. It’s insane Vain wasn’t a bigger band.
When Vain slows it down, like on songs “Turned to Sand” or “Without You” from their two respective other releases, it still works, like on “Shouldn’t Cry” here. This is due in large part to Davy Vain’s almost surreally haunting vocals. This is the kind of song you can hear today or 20 years ago and it still works.
Vain is probably at their peak when they sing about rutting, though, so “Do You Sleep With Strangers?” is perfect for them. The sultry chorus, rife with pent up sex, makes you remember how much fun everyone used to have in the 80s–and maybe, how much fun they aren’t having today when listening to music.
All Those Strangers should have been released nearly 20 years ago, but Grunge and their bankrupt label (Island) interferred with the journey. If you listen to this, and then On the Line, you can see the growth, album by album. They need to come out with a new studio album in 2010 to keep building on whatever momentum they can. They never got a true chance to compete with the likes of KEEL, Motley Crue, Ratt, Dokken, Great White, etc. the first time, because it all went away before they got started. Those bands (and a number more) are back today with new music, and therefore, Vain should follow suit. Here’s hoping …
Label: Jackie Rainbow Records
Track listing:
01. Love Drug
02. Planet’s Turning
03. Shooting Star
04. Too Bad
05. Far Away
06. Wake Up
07. Freak Flag
08. Here Comes Lonely
09. Shouldn’t Cry
10. Do You Sleep With Strangers?
11. Looking Glass
Hardrock Haven rating: 7.8/10