VAS

Talk about a rush – not a breath – of fresh air… Popdose is both pleased and proud to introduce the population to a new band hailing from Memphis, Tennessee – ELDER. This four-piece: Andrew Elder (vocals and keyboards), Ian Duren (drums), Tim Kanter (guitar) and Charles Stout (bass) carves great slabs of dramatic and powerfully melodic pop on soundscapes that instantly reel you in.

Their first offering are two songs, recorded live in Memphis, which makes this an all the more impressive debut. The lead track, “Rock My World”, is a fine piece of modern pop with traceable roots that makes this appealing for any generation of listener. The skill and power that this band displays is immediate by virtue of the fact that this is, indeed, a live performance. The talent is there – now the excitement comes in knowing a full-length album is in the making for release in early 2016. Go to their website (listed below) to hear the other equally high-quality track, “Soda Pop”.

So here is, without any further delay, the band ELDER. Listen and be enlightened… - Popdose

A few months ago, Popdose introduced you to a new band from Memphis, Elder. Since that time, they’ve changed their name to VAS and have begun recording their debut lp. While the first songs we premiered were in the upbeat, rock vein, this new single is a quiet, introspective piece that features stark piano and some lovely background vocals to match the passionate delivery of singer Andrew Elder. Haunting and quite beautiful, here now is VAS…: - Popdose

I’ve written about and shared with you music over the last few months from a wonderful new band, VAS (originally known as “Elder”). We premiered three tracks previously and now Popdose is happy to be the first to bring to the national stage the self-titled debut album from VAS. I once said that this band’s sound is built around great slabs of soundscapes that are dramatic and lush – and that not only holds true, but is shown/heard to greater effect with these new songs that are unveiled. Most importantly that this is a young band who already have a great, intuitive sense of sculpting a melody and will, undoubtedly, go from “already very good” to “predictably great” in not too long a period of time.

The track “Vipers” is a perfect example – starting quietly and subdued with a tautly understated guitar/rhythm/keyboard that immediately builds up in a dramatic manner with a hypnotic guitar riff and then exiting on a quiet piano/vocal fade; “Soda Pop”, which was their introductory bow, has a swirling keyboard and pounding keyboard to reel you in as the tension of the song mounts – and here is where you really hear lead singer Andrew Elder’s voice shine with its smooth range; “Make It” opens the collection with vocal harmonies treated by electronics and a slow, syrupy groove that grabs you immediately. It’s a daring piece to begin an album and a successful one as it has dynamic shifts with peaks and valleys.

“BloodIsBloodIsBlood” is a beautiful, haunting piano piece with atmospheric swirls for effect around Andrew Elder’s impassioned vocals; “Rock My World” is another electronic-aided track but the guitar textures rise with a crispness along with the rhythm section and is easily the album’s possible single (“Soda Pop” already having been issued); “Dream For Real” is a dream-like, slightly off-time piece with interesting tempo shifts and “She Told Me” is a cinematic coup – visual and striking.

So here are the young men of VAS – Andrew Elder on lead vocals, keyboards and programming, Ian Duren on drums and percussion, Tim Kanter on guitar and Charles Stout on bass. As fine a young band as I’ve heard (and could hope to hear) in many years. And this debut album is one for the ages. Mature, thoughtful and emotionally moving. Most importantly, the music they make will stay with you beyond the first listen. - Popdose

Have a listen to my interview with up-and-coming indie rock band VAS (Latin word meaning "vessel") who dropped by Memphis Made to chat last Sunday night. The band has a release called "Make It" which drops tomorrow and ties to Memphis Music Legend Van Duren (Good Question, Loveland Duren). I really enjoyed hearing the band's chief songwriter and front man, Andrew Elder, talk about where he draws his inspiration from and learning more about VAS whose mission is to create a very deep connection to its fans.

Be sure to drop by the Hi-Tone this Friday night and support the band VAS at the "Make It" release party. Forrister and Laramie also on the bill.

Learn more about VAS and buy tunes tomorrow here: http://www.vasmusic.net/ - Rock 103 Memphis Made with Catrina

Young songwriter Julien Baker's surge to prominence over the last year has afforded her a mouthpiece to speak about Christianity to the national media, but also to draw attention to the vibrant D.I.Y. music scene in her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. In an interview with Bandcamp, one of the Memphis contemporaries she most enthusiastically shouted-out was VAS, a rock quartet formed of students at the city's Visible Music College who recently released their self-titled debut. VAS ("vessel" in Latin) is a collection of melodic, electronically-inflected indie pop, packed to the brim with hooks - and though the record suffers from a sense of sonic déjà vu over its nine tracks, it's well worth a spin for frontman Andrew Elder's sometimes sublime vocal performance and for the promise it holds for the nascent band's future. Justin Vernon (of Bon Iver)'s influence is all over VAS - from Elder's vocals, which are a clarion falsetto in the high ranges, then soaked in autotune and other effects in the low, to the neon-streaked synthesizers that recall Vernon's side project Volcano Choir even more than Bon Iver. It's an invigorating mix, and VAS succeed in making the sound their own, though most tracks are cast after the same mid-tempo prototype that by record's end loses its novel luster. Yet while the pace and structure of the songs becomes too familiar, every one has individual elements that work. For example, the dark bass synth that anchors "Soda Pop", the blistering, proggish guitar solo on the same song, or the close of "Dream For Real" which would be at home in a European electro club. But for all of that busy sound, some of the best moments come when VAS take a breather, like the memorable coda of "She Told Me", where the guitars drop away and Elder sings vividly about smoke billowing from a girl's ribcage. The singer's performance on the sorrowful, piano-centric "BloodIsBloodIsBlood" is one of the album's highlights, and there's a crystalline quality to his voice as he delivers the remorse-ridden lyrics. Interesting lyrical territory is explored on "Vipers", too, which laments the know-nothing apathy of white churches to the unique struggles of black Americans. Imagining those struggles as the titular snakes, it ends on a note of hope in Christ's justice: "The head of the slithering serpent will be crushed under his foot." It's "Richard Parker" that listeners will remember most clearly, though. The record's pyrotechnic closer has VAS pushing the envelope, with synths that drift like cirrus clouds around Elder's heavily-processed vocals before giving way to a post-rock-esque crescendo so big that it required a second drum kit and additional musicians (members of Forrister, band of the aforementioned Julien Baker, cut the track live with VAS in a single take). The track title is a reference to Life of Pi, and when Elder intones triumphantly that "I'm the captain now," and, "I'll train your mind to fear all the love that you've been given", the pathos courtesy of book/film could raise a couple goosebumps. This post-rock-inspired sound seems like a rich vein to explore in the future, but regardless of where the band goes next, VAS suggests that it will be worth following along. - Spirit You All

If indie-pop is your poison, then this Memphis 4 piece is for you. Out of the things I’ve heard about this band, the most common is their live show. I have heard it be compared to that of Gungor. And that reason alone was enough for me to look into them. I really liked what I heard. I might be finished booking shows but this is a band I would bring to Columbus. Pair them with Vesperteen and man you are in for a great night of music. - TUNED UP