Your Vegas - Indie at Its Finest
From the UK to the US, this Anthemic Band is Taking Indie by Storm.
When an unsigned indie band's music is descibed as 'music that should be heard in every stadium in the country', that's a lot to live up to. Your Vegas do that and more.
- Genre: Indie
- Sounds like: The Doves and Coldplay
- Hometown: Leeds (UK) and New York
- Your Vegas
Taking On Indie's Big Boys
Consisting of Coyle Girelli (vocals), Mat Steel (guitar), Mark Heaton (keyboards/guitar), Jon Langford (bass) and Mal Taylor (drums), Your Vegas formed at the end of 2004, and in that time they have developed their own take on classic anthemic indie. Although just to describe them as another indie band would be doing them an injustice. With so many bands looking to join the Coldplay set, it takes something different to stand out from the crowd, and the songs of Your Vegas ensures they do just that. And it's not just the songs - the band themselves show that they have the talent to compete with the so-called big boys of British indie.
Music For Everyone
Lead singer Girelli has one of these voices that you immediately fall for - capable of both soft, low tones, as well as soaring melodically above the solid music behind him, he is an impressive find. With a tight rhythm backing supplied by Langford and Taylor on the bass and drums, supplemented just as ably by Steel and Heaton on guitar and keyboards/guitar respectively, this is a band equally at home live as they are in the recording studio, as has been shown in their concert reviews. But it's the songs that will give any band their following, and in this respect, Your Vegas don't disappoint. From up-tempo to slow-building, there's something here that anyone with an ear for good music can appreciate. And it's one of their slow-building tunes that showcase the songwriting skills here to immense effect. It's been said that every band has one classic anthemic song in their arsenal, and Your Vegas have one that stands up there with the best.
A Slow Burning Classic
Salvadore, one of the band's earlier songs, starts off with gentle piano work, with lilting guitars echoing behind, before Girelli starts singing, in a mood not too disimiliar to current darlings of the radio stations, Snow Patrol. Then the tempo lifts just ever-so-slightly, as drums and bass kick in, and Girelli lifts his vocals into another plane. As the guitars then trade mid-song, before the vocals float around the whole piece, you can easily picture this song being a crowd favourite at any summer festival.
Music For The Masses
Another of their songs, Troubled Times, is a perfect example of the variety in Your Vegas's music. Starting with the simplest of guitar chords, the song soon grows into an all-out melodic assault on the senses. Combining the powerful singing of Girelli with some excellent harmonies from the rest of the band, all swirling around a mightily impressive tune, the song just builds and builds to an emphatic crescendo, never once letting go of you while you listen.
Time For The New Breed
Current single In My Head is another excellent showcase of the band's style not being limited to slow burners. An up-tempo masterpiece in songwriting, once again you could place this alongside any of the current releases by the likes of Keane, Snow Patrol or Coldplay, and it wouldn't seem out of place. With sweeping vocal work, a thumping bassline behind excellent guitars and keyboards, it's all finished off with solid drumming and is melodious enough to deserve airplay on any commercial radio station. Indeed, it's already picking up airplay Stateside , where Your Vegas are currently on a mini promotional tour.
Stadium Sensibilities
With the band demoing songs (which you can hear on their website) for a full album release in the near future, as well as rave reviews from their live shows, things could be picking up for this talented five piece who've been described as a stadium band waiting for a stadium. And, with the cynically manufactured state of a lot of the music industry today, that wouldn't be a bad thing at all.
