After a good few years with The Violent Femmes helping to perfect the folk-rock style that made the band famous, drummer Victor DeLorenzo releases his first solo album simply titled Victor DeLorenzo. At first listen it’s quite surprising the direction this is going in. First up is “Carry Me”, a Depeche Mode meets Nine Inch Nails affair that has DeLorenzo giving his vocals a good workout. Track two is “Old Soul Depression.” Despite the title, it’s a strangely relaxing yet short number. “Moving Towards Something” follows and is a montage of drums and groovy, psychedelic sounds. “Before It Happens” is the fourth offering, a short but sweet flute instrumental. The hypnotic “Dr. Um” is the fifth song in with DeLorenzo asking “Can you help me, Dr? Ummmmmmmm… ” His accompanying Dr.Um is seemingly helpful in this industrial/samba number. Track six is “Being Straight Is” allows DeLorenzo to get his drum freak on while a voice lets him know it’s “too damn high” a couple of times. Track seven is a second helping of “Old Soul Depression,” a vocal calling of “doooooooooooodo do do do do…” with drums a-beating and the chains a-rattling. “Peace” is track eight seeing DeLorenzo getting all groovy in another surprisingly relaxing track. It features a saxophone solo that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Scary Monsters & Super Creeps all those years ago. “I Remember When I Loved Her” is the standout track, a brilliant song of love’s past memories blended with a 60’s style. Next is “Bow,” a fun track ten doing exactly what the title suggests, with “bow, bow, bow bow b-bow bow bow bow….bow bow” repeated with a few “hey heys” thrown in for good measure. “Auction Man (Yer On The Air)” is song eleven featuring a distorted radio voice crackling over wild drums and sax. “Gonna Wanna” is the second standout track with DeLorenzo going all Iggy Pop on us as he is gonna rock, gonna roll…and he certainly does on this excellent number. “A Quiet Walk” follows and leads us into “Do You Remember?” with DeLorenzo replacing a mic for a kazoo to sing into with a Twilight Zone-esque accompaniment. The album closes with “Good Feeling,” which leaves us with the question “will you stay with me, just a little longer?” It’s a real feel good end to this 15-track album.
Like other solo albums out there, some folks will like it, some folks won’t…but if you let loose and let your inner bizarre out then you’ll enjoy Victor DeLorenzo just as much as Victor DeLorenzo did making it.
Get your copy of Victor DeLorenzo here: http://cdbaby.com/cd/victordelorenzo and look for our feature on Victor in an upcoming issue of Fourculture.
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— Mark Sharpley | @MarkSharpley1
