March 1996 May 1996 June 1996 July 1996 Sept 1996 Nov 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 That was the last anyone heard of Vaportrail. 2002-2004 |
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| SF Bay Guardian - Oct.
1996 (Demo Tape o' the Week) There couldn't be a more fitting name for this band: Vaportrail's hollow arrangements give what they play particular resonance. While most demo tapes are sonic clutter from the get-go, I thought "Real Day" would never start. Its long intro (four guitar notes, a bass mantra, and a simple backbeat) go on almost forever before the singing starts. Lyrically Vaportrail play alphabet soup with snippets of B+ poetry, as in "One of the Rockets", which has lyrics like "Look what I found / Crashed to the ground / Keep it down / To a whisper / ...She's one of the rockets / That nobody knows." Overall, the effect is complimentary to the song's chorused swirl of guitar noise. "Starving for Starlight" is the strongest song on the cassette, evoking images of New Order in their prime. Singer Roger Anderson and bassist Mark Dansby play a Lowlife-era Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook in the way their melodies intertwine. Vaportrail takes angst-ridden rock and puts an ambient spin on it, appealing to angry young men and shoegazers alike. |

