I’m never quite sure what kind of musical mood I’ll be in. Maybe I’d like something poppy, or some thump-thump-thump techno, or even an experimental album to expand my mind. Any of these can be valid choices for any given listening session.
But sometimes you just wanna rock.
And when you want to rock, Iceland’s The Vintage Caravan is here for you. They know exactly what you need. Rapid-fire drums, shredding guitar solos, and vocals that rise to the occasion, full of passion and energy and emotion and, yeah, did I mention guitars too? Lots of guitars. Guitars all up in your face.
The Vintage Caravan’s most recent studio album was 2021s Monuments, and their latest release is a live album with tracks taken from the Monuments tour called, appropriately, The Monuments Tour. As near as I can tell this collection isn’t from one specific show, but the best performances from across the tour. And clearly these recordings were made with a live album in mind, because they sound fantastic – none of the flatness or muddiness so often found on live records. The drums punch. The guitars crackle. The vocals are bright and up front. And the band as a whole is tight as a drum, the songs tightly coiled and controlled. These guys know how to rock – they’ve been around since 2006, and all that experience shows through.
As near as I can tell there are two vinyl versions of this release (currently) – red-with-blue marbled (edition of 200), and yellow-with-orange marbled (edition size unknown). I’m not sure if these were distributed differently. Almost all the listings I found online were for the red-blue version, and more than twice as many Discogs users claim to have that version as do the yellow-orange. Mine is the yellow-orange version and I bought it in Reykjavik, for whatever that’s worth. Regardless of which color you ultimately get, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. You can give a couple of songs a listen at The Vintage Caravan Bandcamp page HERE. Happy rocking.