German Party Rockers Vice Reunite For Fun Times!
Vice was founded in Munich Germany in the late 80’s and signed by major label BMG Ariola back in 1988. Their first two records gave the band chart positions and several tours all over Europe. With more than 100.000 sold copies, Vice had a sizeable following with their good time punky rock n’roll.
Now after almost 30 years, Vice have reunited for more rocking…The new album Veni Vidi Vice was produced, recorded and mixed by Chris Limburg at lictoc studios in Munich and released via Pride & Joy Records.
The current line-up consists of Mario “Mitch” Michel (Vocals), Chris “Yps” Limburg (Guitars), Martin “El Bajo” Dreher (Bass), Pete “Pepsi” Lautenschlager (Drums). Their sound is like a mix of West Coast pop punk and sleaze rock, which owes much to bands such as The Offspring and Green Day and even RATT, but with a charm that is hard to deny. This album is unashamedly daft, but has so much life it crackles with pure energy of being alive.
VICE – Veni Vidi Vice
All the songs on this collection follow pretty much the same melodic power pop punk formula, except for the cheesy “Only Love Can Heal The World“, which I can only assume is a parody of those cheesy power ballads. I can’t quite see the band keeping a straight face for this song.
The album fires up with the Hawaian strains of “Hot Summer Party” and the Van Hagar-like rocker welcomes to one crazy mix. It seems like this album should have been released for July/August and it is hard to reconcile that with its December release. This tune is a belter with Michel excelling at his meshing of Bon Scott and Sammy Hagar…Best played LOUD!
Following on, “Dirty Mind” veers toward Accept with its catchy chunky riffing. “Where Do I Belong” again adds some Hawaian punch.
“You Bother” sounds a bit like Poison with a nifty “woahwoah” chant. The party then seems to be over with the terrible “Only Love Can Heal The World“….uhhhg
Luckily, the rest of the album gets back to party animaling. “Open Eyes” gets a bit like Whitesnake doing D-A-D…Weirdly, it is fantastic. This is a song that passes the Coxy driving test – you get faster as the riffs hit you.
Their version of “The Joker” is a punky take on Steve Miller‘s classic. It works, but is not the best song on the record.
“Turn It Up” slides with some nice voice box guitar and more catchy chanting. It also includes a bit of Faith No More like rapping.
The album continues with the best ballad on the album, “Not What It Seems“. This sounds like Nirvana on Nevermind.
The final main song is the punky “My Way” and the album concludes with a Jungle Mix of “Where Do I Belong“, which is fun.
Not a deep record, but hugely FUN. Nice work!
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