PRESENT

4.5 Stars, after almost thirty years, I was overjoyed to find out that VDGG had reunited and am hoping they will come to Montreal. The material on their new double album present, is some of best new music I've heard in years. They have lost none of their hard edge or sense of musical adventurism. The first disc standouts in my opinion include Every Bloody Emperor, which also sounds great live judging from the tour versions I've heard and includes some biting social commentary from Peter Hamill. Boleas Panic, an instrumental, is another standout, funky and heavy. Nutter Alert, Abandon Ship, and In Babelsberg are also excellent. My personal favorites on the album however lie in the instrumental and improvisational second disc, including Vulcan Meld, Double Bass especially the latter half, Manuelle which is an excellent reggae influenced number in the vein of Meurgly's III off of World Record. The best song on album, and one in my humble opinion one of the best songs I've heard from VDGG and certainly one of the heaviest songs I've ever heard is Architectural Hair, which has to be heard to be believed. Although the guitar riff is almost punkish in the rawness of the sound, the great interplay of drums, bass, guitar and saxophone gives this song a killer groove which I would best analogize as "hitting you like a heart attack" and not letting up throughout the song, one of the best songs I've ever heard to drive to. The quality of interplay between the band on this song and others makes this far from your typical rock reunion cash grab album tripe i.e. Yes's "Union." Definitely worth the purchase.