When does post-punk become emo? When does the dark evocativeness of post-punk veer into the over-the-top whinging of emo? San Francisco’s Veil Veil Vanish can slip into the latter on debut full-length, Change In the Neon Light, especially if you’re looking for it, but the band’s sound is rooted in the angular post-punk.
The titular opener kind of poses the dilemma, right at the start, with its evocation, and it keeps right on through Change. There’s also not a whole lot of ‘change’ on the record; the emotions stay largely similar, as well as the angular guitars, something that would put VVV on the less inventive, emo side of things. But rhythm can set them apart, such as the stronger drumming to "Exile City", or especially the press to the following "Modern Lust" or later track "This Is Violet"; the former brings back the nighttime synths of eighties post-punk, while the latter feels like driving with abandon through abandoned late night city streets. Unfortunately, Neon Light ends after "Violet" with its two weakest pieces, as the ‘about a troubled girl’ material to "Detachment" feels overdone ("It’s not fun / If it doesn’t leave a mark"), and closer "Wilderness" just tries too hard, going into overwrought stripped reverb.
But Veil Veil Vanish have put down their own lamppost with Change In the Neon Light, driving their sound home. As long as you’re not a hater, looking to dismiss them, that sound will leave its mark.
