It seems to have been ages since I last heard from The RVMES, and I can see from looking through my records that it is more than a year since I last saw them play, and also more than a year since I reviewed their excellent album, Lifetime. Now they are back with the first single from their next album, Simple Things which will be out in a few months’ time. One of the delights of their sound is the way they mix pop with the Dunedin sound yet have lots of space and a jangling approach which is somehow both naïve an incredibly polished at the same time. This album was recorded with the same line-up as the last one, although guitarist Miro Gibson has since gone onto pastures new and has been replaced by Richard Moore.
With one guitar being gently riffed, and the other over the top providing lead melodies and noodlings, it is actually the rhythm section which keep this number together, driven mostly by the incredibly warm and wonderful sounds of bassist Ronaldo Lima who on this song is providing a lot of melody, ahead of the riffs but behind the noodles. While he is doing this Logan Fox switches between keeping the beat, providing fills and some nice hi-hat, all of which allows Edwin Judd to take control with pleasant vocals, lifting in the chorus with the result being that there is a song which is made for radio and the Summer. There is something bright and breezy about it, infectious and cool with an alternative edge which makes it fascinating. I for one am looking forward to the album and the tour, they are both going to be a blast.
The RVMES (pronounced 'The Rooms') are a fiercely independent alternative rock band from Auckland known for their energetic live shows and slight boundary issues when it comes to genre.