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| Also the name of a German a capella group. |
Viva Voce was a two-member outfit built around husband and wife, Kevin and Anita Robinson (nee Anita Elliott), so it’s not too surprising the band ended when they divorced. They started out in their native Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1998, before relocating (first) to Nashville, Tennessee, then Portland, Oregon - apparently, with some prodding by Menomena’s Danny Seim - where they spent most of their careers. They played most of that time as a two-piece, even live and, if you spend any time listening to them, they put out an impressive amount of volume, variety and texture with just two people. A Guitar World interview with Anita that came out around the same time as their final album (lots of great gear/guitar talk in that one, btw), The Future Will Destroy You, neatly summed up how that worked in practice:
“With Kevin manning the drums while also playing acoustic guitar (no kidding!) and singing, and Anita playing lead guitar while singing ethereal lead vocals, their live sound is surprisingly fat and ballsy for just two players.”
Viva Voce lasted over a decade as a going concern - not bad for an indie outfit - and, per Wikipedia, toured with some of their bigger peers, like Jimmy Eats World and The Shins. That gave them enough time to drop a pretty healthy discography, spanning from 1998’s Hooray for Now to The Future; their breakthrough album, to the extent they had one, was 2004’s The Heat Can Melt Your Brain, which got them big enough to tour in Europe (if I combine sources here - Wikipedia and a 2014 Willamette Week piece on Kevin’s (ungentle) life after the split (seriously, oof), that could be when they got on board with a UK indie label called Full Time Hobby). Another thing worth noting: they expanded to a four-piece, at least for touring purposes, during/after 2009’s release of Rose City (5th album; cute song, btw), by adding Evan Railton (instrument unknown) and Corinna Repp (guitar, I’m guessing).
That Willamette Week piece flags the tour for The Future as the beginning of a very sharp end: Kevin colorfully described the experience as “going from one beheading to the next.” It’s funny, if only in that highly-specific context, to read a 2005 appreciation of The Heat (etc.)/evil prophecy from the UK's Independent regarding how many bands built on two people implode in white-hot recriminations - and woe betide the people dumb enough to attempt it while married (though it’s nice when the same article credits Sonny and Cher for being “troupers” for reaching “an amicable rapprochement after their split). Good on calling the future…I guess?
All the above just scratches the surface - I’m sure there’s plenty of lore about them bouncing around the contemporary, local press - and credit to them for beating the odds for as long as they did. They put out some damned fine music, and with a nice spin. So, let’s turn to those happier days, shall we?
About the Sampler
Shit…got in more listening than I realized this time, which means I managed to pick something from six “albums” (by which I mean, some actual albums, plus a collection of early works titled Artifaktz: 1997-2001). By way of describing what you get out of it, Guitar World says this:
“But that’s only because Viva Voce’s unique blend of singable, irreverent indie retro folk rock just can’t be categorized. And with songs ranging from reflective ballads to alien inspired anthems … what’s the point of trying?”
The Independent went with something tidier:
“…a woozy, home-grown form of psychedelic pop that recalls the dreamy acid-pop of Mazzy Star and Galaxie 500, alongside such strange bedfellows as Pink Floyd, Les Baxter, Grandaddy and the Velvet Underground.”
I call it nice, layered, generally mid-tempo indie rock, but with some absolutely dynamite rhythm structures - and, for what it's worth, I tend to favor their up-tempo numbers. To loosely describe what I’d call Viva Voce’s best trick, a lot of their music possesses a aural warmth that sort of fills that fills the space in which you listen to them. While I wouldn’t go as far as calling them breathtaking original, they did manage to carve out a unique space for themselves in a very competitive music scene (i.e., Portland, OR’s). Now, for the actual sampler, as organized by album:
Artifaktz: 1997-2001: “Beautiful” and “Fear of Flying”
Lovers Lead the Way (sort of): “Fashionably Lonely,” “That’s Right…Watch Out!,” "Best Thing Ever (Maybe Not),” and “Let’s Bend Light”
The Heat Can Melt Your Brain: “Alive with Pleasure” and “High Highs”
Get Yr Blood Sucked Out: “When Planets Collide,” “From the Devil Himself,” “So Many Miles” and “Special Thing” (best album for my money, btw)
Rose City: “Die a Little,” “Red Letter Day,” “Good as Gold,” and “Rose City”
The Future Will Destroy You: “Plastic Radio,” “Black Mood Ring,” and “The Future Will Destroy You”
“With Kevin manning the drums while also playing acoustic guitar (no kidding!) and singing, and Anita playing lead guitar while singing ethereal lead vocals, their live sound is surprisingly fat and ballsy for just two players.”
Viva Voce lasted over a decade as a going concern - not bad for an indie outfit - and, per Wikipedia, toured with some of their bigger peers, like Jimmy Eats World and The Shins. That gave them enough time to drop a pretty healthy discography, spanning from 1998’s Hooray for Now to The Future; their breakthrough album, to the extent they had one, was 2004’s The Heat Can Melt Your Brain, which got them big enough to tour in Europe (if I combine sources here - Wikipedia and a 2014 Willamette Week piece on Kevin’s (ungentle) life after the split (seriously, oof), that could be when they got on board with a UK indie label called Full Time Hobby). Another thing worth noting: they expanded to a four-piece, at least for touring purposes, during/after 2009’s release of Rose City (5th album; cute song, btw), by adding Evan Railton (instrument unknown) and Corinna Repp (guitar, I’m guessing).
That Willamette Week piece flags the tour for The Future as the beginning of a very sharp end: Kevin colorfully described the experience as “going from one beheading to the next.” It’s funny, if only in that highly-specific context, to read a 2005 appreciation of The Heat (etc.)/evil prophecy from the UK's Independent regarding how many bands built on two people implode in white-hot recriminations - and woe betide the people dumb enough to attempt it while married (though it’s nice when the same article credits Sonny and Cher for being “troupers” for reaching “an amicable rapprochement after their split). Good on calling the future…I guess?
All the above just scratches the surface - I’m sure there’s plenty of lore about them bouncing around the contemporary, local press - and credit to them for beating the odds for as long as they did. They put out some damned fine music, and with a nice spin. So, let’s turn to those happier days, shall we?
About the Sampler
Shit…got in more listening than I realized this time, which means I managed to pick something from six “albums” (by which I mean, some actual albums, plus a collection of early works titled Artifaktz: 1997-2001). By way of describing what you get out of it, Guitar World says this:
“But that’s only because Viva Voce’s unique blend of singable, irreverent indie retro folk rock just can’t be categorized. And with songs ranging from reflective ballads to alien inspired anthems … what’s the point of trying?”
The Independent went with something tidier:
“…a woozy, home-grown form of psychedelic pop that recalls the dreamy acid-pop of Mazzy Star and Galaxie 500, alongside such strange bedfellows as Pink Floyd, Les Baxter, Grandaddy and the Velvet Underground.”
I call it nice, layered, generally mid-tempo indie rock, but with some absolutely dynamite rhythm structures - and, for what it's worth, I tend to favor their up-tempo numbers. To loosely describe what I’d call Viva Voce’s best trick, a lot of their music possesses a aural warmth that sort of fills that fills the space in which you listen to them. While I wouldn’t go as far as calling them breathtaking original, they did manage to carve out a unique space for themselves in a very competitive music scene (i.e., Portland, OR’s). Now, for the actual sampler, as organized by album:
Artifaktz: 1997-2001: “Beautiful” and “Fear of Flying”
Lovers Lead the Way (sort of): “Fashionably Lonely,” “That’s Right…Watch Out!,” "Best Thing Ever (Maybe Not),” and “Let’s Bend Light”
The Heat Can Melt Your Brain: “Alive with Pleasure” and “High Highs”
Get Yr Blood Sucked Out: “When Planets Collide,” “From the Devil Himself,” “So Many Miles” and “Special Thing” (best album for my money, btw)
Rose City: “Die a Little,” “Red Letter Day,” “Good as Gold,” and “Rose City”
The Future Will Destroy You: “Plastic Radio,” “Black Mood Ring,” and “The Future Will Destroy You”
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