Vanilla Sky play some of the sweetest, melodic pop-punk known to man. And believe it or not, they’re not American! Forming in Rome (that’s Italy for the geographically challenged) in 2002, Vanilla Sky has forged a reputation on the European mainland for being as sweet as a nut. Picked up by Italian label Wynona Records, the band has released an EP and a couple of split CDs, mainly in Japan, so ‘Waiting For Something’ is actually their first full-lengther – and is exceedingly good.
Like many of the bands at the top of the genre – your New Found Glory‘s and Fallout Boy’s spring to mind – Vanilla Sky really focus on the melodies and harmonies and on nearly every occasion they nail them. The guitars are springy and the two or three way vocals bring comparisons to bands like Midtown. It makes songs like ‘The Point’ and the awesome ‘Distance’ a hell of a lot of fun. Sure, the Italian vocal slant can be a little off-putting at first, but it’s actually refreshing not to have a faux-US accent blasting from the speakers. What serves Vanilla Sky well is their refusal to be pigeonholed. They play the slower ‘Unfriend’ and make it work well, while the faster and more aggressive ‘Wait For The Sun’ is just as good, although at the opposite end of the scale. Let’s be honest, Vanilla Sky haven’t re-written the rulebook, but what they have done is create catchy, honest pop-punk songs and made listening fun. And that’s all you can ask for in a record of this type.
This CD is being distributed via Engineer Records in the UK and can be picked up for less than £7 through their distro, which makes this an absolutely essential purchase. It’s probably the best pop-punk record I’ve heard since the last Fallout Boy release and is certainly one of the best European records in many months. Around 15,000 copies have already been sold and I can see many, many more once the band make it to thee shores later this year. Check them now before they get really big…
www.vanillaskyrock.com
Wynona/Engineer
Paul