Search - Virginia Coalition :: Rock & Roll Party

Eclectic maturity

sdingma1 | Alexandria, VAAlexandria, Virginia United States | 01/22/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Since 1998, Alexandria, VA has been humming and bucking to a home-cooked sound: the go-go-infused, country-fried, r&b-flavored rock of Virginia Coalition. "Rock and Roll Party" represents the maturity of those diverse influences into a sound that hooks the listener with an unmistakeable aesthetic which refuses to reside in the spinoff bin. Possessed of the finest features integral to the music of everyone from James Taylor to Wilson Pickett to Rare Essence to Wilco, VACO will seamlessly move you from impulsive bum-shakes to contemplative coffee sips, and their tunes will echo happily in your brain pan for hours after the record stops spinning. More than just a live band, this record represents a finely-trained ear for the premium transfusion of music-hall energy into studio eclectics. On "Jerry Jermaine," the seamless combination of studio and live recordings transports the song to the meridian points of funk-rock; VACO brings forth the sense of the mischevious troubadour, jumping next to the hauntingly redemptive "Moon in the Morning," whose Coldplay-ish refrain nestles nicely against the barnyard whoop of "Martha Lu" a few tracks later. On perhaps the finest track from the record, "This is Him (hurricane song)," accoustic guitars and Latin-flavored percussion give way to a dam-burst of joyous rock, painted over with the warmly soulful voice of vocalist Andy Poliakoff, who later channels the lovechild of James Brown and Jim Croce, again seamlessly. The sweet inflections of fellow singer Steve Dawson's tunes is undercut with the playfulness the permeates the style-happy ensemble--a complicated melange of inspiration that goes off without a hitch, swiveling all hips and tapping all toes in its path. Every note is played to the hilt, without apology for its delicious diversity. In doing so, Virginia Coalition throws a raucously reverent "Party.""

"But don't take my word for it..."

Maximus Funkaparty Bigbooticus | NC USA | 02/09/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Positively-charged gems from 5 musicians with a plan to inject some danceable go-go funk into your jam-rock diet. You like DMB? You like George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars? You like James Taylor? You like all three? Regardless, sit back and listen as these five fabulous fighters of the funk fight meld some of America's finest musical styles into sheer art. You deserve it. Your friends deserve it. Put them both together with VACO, shake well, and enjoy.And in the words of Levar Burton: "But don't take *my* word for it!" You might use a particular search engine that might rhyme with `bugle,' enter "Virginia Coalition Band" and read the newspaper links, peeps. I'd post them, but Amazon no-likie.Cheers,
The Prince (not the King) Ad-Rock"

Great CD

Eric P DOrvilliers | Milltown, NJ United States | 02/06/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wonderful new CD by Vaco. Saw them recently at Lehigh University and they rocked, got the new CD "Rock and Roll Party" and its awesome."