Colonial Vipers Attack: Colonial Vipers Attack

Colonial Vipers Attack
Colonial Vipers Attack
Self-released

I have a fantasy about Noel and Liam Gallagher. It takes place a dozen years from now in a pub. The boys, sodden and broken, have scurried to their respective corners after yet another mindless scrum. Staring at each other across an empty bar, they think the same thing: "God, I have wasted my life."

Of course, a moment so delicious would demand a soundtrack, right? Playing overhead is the debut release by Colonial Vipers Attack. Full of brooding, Oasis-esque melancholy, the 11 tracks stir heavily with longing and regret. Perfect.

A sort of Twin Cities super group (which includes members of Divorcee, Faux Jean, the Melismatics, and the Spring Collection), Colonial Vipers Attack construct songs that are as richly textured as anything the Gallagher boys have produced. Yet they are untainted by the stink of pretension. Vocalist Chris Pavlich's thin, sustained vocals linger delicately over Kris Johnson's layered yet unobtrusive guitar work and Shawn Grider's insistent, pulsing drums.

However, it's the last track that reveals the band at their most emotionally vulnerable--and at their best. On "Sleep," Pavlich's voice rings like a fading memory over minimalist, descending guitar strums. You can almost hear it echo in the air of a dim pub as two brothers walk toward each other with fists unclenched.