Self Released – September 10, 2021
Melancholy and the intimate radness!
(Full disclosure, I’ve been friends and played with Laher, who’s no stranger to the London punk scene (ex: Laserchrist, Paperjets), for years. There’s a reason for that. I’ve always been a fan of his perspective and writing style and his latest endeavor solidifies that belief.)
London born and South African raised Yusuf Laher brings the bummer jams with his solo project Vampire Slumber Party’s debut album Funeral Pop, a quirky collection of inner monologues peppered with melodic, mostly mid-tempo musings on the murkiness we’re all squinting to see through in a world filled with blurred lines. The sound is somewhat reminiscent of This Addiction era Alkiline Trio with hints of Angels & Airwaves while maintaining a uniqueness all it’s own. Honestly, I hard a hard time placing my finger on what exactly might have influenced this body of work. It’s not your average brand of cookie cutter, emo tinged pop punk.
The record opens with “Northern Lights,” which serves to ease the listener, in a gentle way, into the narratives contained within which consists mostly of being chewed up and spit out by society. The line “it’s hard to stay cool when the world’s on fire” stood out to me immediately as it likely sums up how we’ve all been feeling in the pandemic ravaged social wasteland we’ve been collectively forced to endure. Next up, “Now, Repeat After Me,” starts off with a simple yet infectious lead guitar riff and provides contrast to the somber tones ever present throughout the record by championing the power of love. So you’re saying there’s a chance? Maybe not.
Diving back into the darkness, with themes of mortality and declining mental health, the record continues on this trajectory with “Get Well Soon” and begins to build in it’s intensity. Here’s where the rhythm section, of which Laher is a seasoned veteran, really begins to shine. While the delicate dance between drums and bass continues to burn slowly in “Clap For The Zeroes,” it picks up the pace and reaches it’s pinnacle in what might be my favorite offering, “Ghost Town Blues Revisited,” with a bass line that drags you and your dancing shoes into the chorus. I’m a sucker for dynamic changes and this one ticks all the boxes. Did he get Travis Barker to play drums on this track? No, but it sure sounds like an homage to his playing style.
As we wind our way towards the end, we wade through a little 90’s grunge worship in “Wasted Energy” until the album reaches peak speed and aggression with “Not As White As It Used To Be,” which could easily have been plucked from an early Fat Wreck release (Strung Out anyone?) before finally winding down and coming full circle with a brighter and more sophisticated take on Bush’s “Glycerine.” Gavin Rossdale, eat your heart out.
As a whole, emotion comes pouring out of Funeral Pop like blood from a severed artery and seems to hint at nearly all things punk adjacent while doing so in a cohesive way. There’s an incredible depth to the fuzzy, interwoven guitars and layers of textured vocals that feels as though Laher, who most impressively sang every note and played every instrument on this debut release, is attempting to wrap you in a warm blanket in preparation for the cold, hard reality that is the ugliness of the real world. We all deal with demons but it would be nice if we could eloquently describe them in such a poignant and approachable way. As they say, “a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down…”
Jerred Lazar is a make believe musician and wannabe writer attempting to survive in Washington DC
