VOMITFACE – “DRAMAMINE”
HOORAY FOR MEΒ (2016)
Help Yourself Records
August 9, 2016
Jared Micah (vocals/guitar) and Preetma Singh (drums) found themselves trapped in their Jersey City, NJ, home during Hurricane Sandy.Β Drawing inspiration from their depressing surroundings and a shelf full of equally depressing records β Slint, Shellac, and Babes in Toyland, to name a few β Micah and Singh decided they had nothing better to do than to write loud songs. Those songs eventually became a band that they decided to callΒ Vomitface, despite several industry professionals subsequently telling them that was a bad idea.
From the beginning,Β VomitfaceΒ pledged to steer clear of the latest production trends and micro-genre tags, but despite their best efforts they soon became known as New York Cityβs buzziest βblack-surf avant-grunge sludge-popβ band (a term Micah may have coined himself). In 2014,Β VomitfaceΒ released their debut EP,Β S/T,Β followed immediately by a second EP,Β Another Bad Year, in 2015.Β The quick output, combined with a slew of DIY shows and tours, landedΒ VomitfaceΒ on a list of βHardest Working Bands in NYCβ (Oh My Rockness),Β an accolade that contradicted a number of previous articles that had them pegged as βbest new slacker rock.β
Following the release ofΒ Another Bad Year,Β VomitfaceΒ headed into the studio with bass player and Brooklyn park ranger Angela Phillips and engineer Steve Albini to record their debut full-length,Β Hooray for MeΒ (outΒ August 26Β on Help Yourself Records).Β RecordedΒ in two daysΒ in mostly single takes,Β VomitfaceΒ left the studio with an album that finally encompassed the raw and unhinged energy the band had been striving for all along (with pretty much zero reverb on the whole damn thing).Β After the session, Albini even went so far as to tell the band that the songs βsounded fine.β
The final product is an album full of sharp,Β deceptively catchy songs,Β each delivered with a self-deprecating smirk.Β The son of a TennesseeΒ preacher, Micah began writing songs in high school around the same time he started working at the local record store, where he would book after-hours shows and sneak out punk records behind the managerβs back (he was fired). Singh is a law school graduate, who can beat the shit out of the drums and do a spot-on Courtney Love impression at karaoke. Singhβs booming drum kit is the first thing you hear on opener βSenior Pictures,β with Micahβs buzzsaw guitar following close behind. On βDramamineβ and βItβs Me,βΒ vocal harmonies layer over voyeuristic glimpses into the bandβs collective misfortunes. The bandβs nihilism and generational self-loathing boils over on βChew Toy,β a five minute dirge that ends with Micah sarcastically showing off his millennialΒ participation trophies (βI hear applause itβs all for me / Hooray for me).β
AlthoughΒ VomitfaceΒ enjoyed playing alongside bands made up of trust fund punks and part-time models in New York City, they recently relocated up north to Singhβs hometown of Toronto, Canada, inΒ pursuitΒ of a better life. They also hope to beat the eventual onslaught of AmericanΒ refugees immigrating after the inauguration of Donald Trump.
With a new home base, multiple tours on the horizon, and a debut LP, Hooray for MeΒ β making a tumultuous splash onΒ August 26Β via Help Yourself Records β the pessimists inΒ VomitfaceΒ may very well experience their long-awaited first good year.
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