SCENE & HEARD
VAL NORMAL – “Plans? What Plans” Album Launch
Sweeney’s, Friday 25th, January 2013
V
AL NORMAL showcased their album in its entirety here this evening by playing every track on the album as it is listed. That started off with “Hailstone” and from how it daintily begins with the opening they charge into things very much head on. Things are very rich on the playing side with it and it really packs a punch. The musical aspects of what they are all about are very much obvious to anyone here this evening. The directional changes in their sound impress without being pretentious and the hard hitting manner of everything progressive in their sound is all in sync with the timing here. “Solidify The Idiocy” is something that begins very hip and spry, while still incorporating something that is very intense into things. It has flourishes on the sound that reverberate in a way that don’t see it put out by the improvised ‘screamo’ flashes thrown in for good measure, while the descending tone on how it runs is something additional that scores it nicely. “Infected.Boy.Guitar.Sky” was played without them skipping a beat. There is something emphatic about it that sits really well with the hooks that drive it on. It is creative and flush and they appear to have grasped the task at hand quite well. They lock it all down and the delivery shows robustness in their sound here. “Our Friend The Seizure” is introduced as being ‘a song about LSD” by the band. It has a fantastic riff to it that seems to electrify as it is played live here. It cruises along and basks in the glory of this. There is a true ferocity to it here that seems to have been reined in and tamed in, while at the same time it proves to be temporary.
The band then let things off the leash and rock out in a way that wows with the lavish helpings of rock that give it a true ferocity. With “Metal Gear Salad” they seem to accommodate a lot of things into proceedings for a song that is essentially a long player that is capable of going the distance. It begins by playing in a tripped out way that supports all the other elements as they are played in. The protests elements of the song are there in the performance and make no apologies for what the band is all about. They show some triumphant and sterling work in their set with next tune “4, 5 & 7”. They dissect a lot of things and seem to branch out on the sound here by interjecting a lot of things to show an importance about them as they play it live. The bass line to it is also an important detail here. There is a scatty way about it as it is played and the guitar seems to frizzle and become a specific sound to what is on show. What occurs when they all come together shows a real effort on their playing that is as much boisterous as it is well-detailed. “Greens” was then rattled off to a specific hook that has the weighty elements of it nicely judged. Everything about it is done right and it comes to the stag as the finished product. The guitar intensifies it and clues in the progressive and alternative moments of it sweetly. It really holds court and stands on the shoulders of the vocals. They also worked the crowd rather well as they launched into this one and they fed off the good vibes generated.
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