Very Fast Very Dangerous - Reuben

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Average
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	witty lyrics, strong riffs, not attempting to pander to current trends
Disadvantages:	lack of invention, some repetative tracks

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

For all rock fans, there comes a day when you have to make a decision. It's one which could affect your listening habits forever and may even alter your perception of music. How long and with how clean a conscience can one compromise intelligence/originality for good riffs? It was with a heavy heart that when I drew my own line in the sand, I looked up and found Reuben balancing precariously upon it. I was gripped by the certainty that their next album would bring them closer to my lain-out towel, sunscreen and picnic blanket or banish them forever to the harsh sea. This is the sense in which I greeted 'Very Fast, Very Dangerous'.

Opening with a dance-able drumbeat and growling bass-line, followed by a predictable but fun guitar-part, is the appropriately titled 'Kick in the Mouth'. In classic opener style, there's little build before the sing-along chorus and it characterizes the entire album. From the enraged 'Blamethrower', through the gentle 'Nobody Loves you', to the epic 'Return of The Jedi', there are few surprises on this album that the song-titles don't immediately confess. If you're still not sure, the first few seconds of each track will immediately confirm whether you should have your fist in the air or a lighter.

Quickly 'Very Fast, Very Dangerous' progresses from the "It all panned out in a way I like, and yeah, I got my faults but it's alright" mentality of 'A Kick in The Mouth', to self-deprecation done well. In 'Some Mothers Do Ave Em' lies everything good about Reuben. It's not the self-pitying, attention seeking lyricism that so-blights current rock, it's a humorous acceptance of ones' station, hoping for better. Jamie Lenman sings, screams and riffs his arse off. The song begins setting out the stall of his life, what he's achieved and his own analysis of it all;
"I got a band and a woman too,
I got a plan and a focussed view,
And that's cool for twenty one" As he breaks into the chorus of "I've already stayed for too long/I will only break your heart when I go" It's as though he's lost focus, until it becomes clear the song relates to leaving home. It really kicks around 2 minutes in, in a riff that is transitional between the rock song format and a scream-off of head-banging proportions;
'SO I'M STAYING HOME/ 'CAUSE TO MY NEIGHBOURS/ I'M FUCKING FAMOUS'.

The next two songs, somewhat more upbeat than the openers, fly by, with little to analyse other than riffs and lyrics you can move and relate to. 'It's All About Control' is a song that seems to scream snap out of it. It covers partying too hard, not knowing your own opinions and thinking too far ahead; "Sometimes my dreams are so far-fetched, That I cannot begin to conceive a way out". After four template, yet varying slabs of riff, honesty and perceived affability, it's fitting that here comes a change in the superbly titled 'Every Time A Teenager Listens To Drum And Bass A Rockstar Dies'. Slower tempo than what has preceded it, the song opens with a hip-hop influenced drumbeat (Note, this is NOT Nu-Metal!) and a bassy, catchy guitar line. It slows to a beautiful vocal harmony, repeating "You and me". This is Reuben messing with their sound and having fun doing it, in chill-out preparation for the first surprise of the album…

'Nobody Loves You' is a gentle, slow ballad. Yes, in rock terms, perhaps not equal to an errection in the Vatican in the shock stakes. But it's done so well, and so sincerely that the words "Nobody loves you like I do" sound desperate and assured in equal measure. It floats by like a dream into well composed violins, not the over-produced full orchestra of a glossy major label "punk" band.

Then "Blamethrower" happens. It's hard. It's fast. It's serious. It's funny. It just rocks. I can't express enough why every "emo kid" in the country should be forced to listen to this song. If you were to download one track to make a purchase decision, this is it. The real British rock scene kicking back with some fucking balls and not giving a shit if the radio plays it. Look up the lyrics yourself. Better yet, buy it. I'm calling your bluff.

Another album hi-light follows in the verse-chorus-verse-chorus stylee of 'Keep it to Yourself'. Sick of some bastard telling you about his shitty day when yours was worse? Stop him mid-sentence, put on your ear phones and walk away with this ringing in your ears. The song-title says it all and it's one of the catchier moments of VFVD. The next three songs continue in this vein and I suppose that is a weakness one can identify. They're not bad songs, at a party they'd do fine chugging from the CD player in the corner, but they don't need to be distinguished. I feel no desire to analyse every single one, save saying they're good rock songs. Not excellent, not bad. The same cannot be said of the sheer journey that is…

'Return of The Jedi'. Yes, they're probably getting sued for the title, and it's over seven minutes long, but its' a corker. Reuben felt, for one reason or another, that the various/varying riff and time changes of their debut album weren't right for the follow-up. This is a nod to earlier fans. It's more than a nod, it's a head-bang 'till your nose bleeds to the fans. Lyrically this song sums up VFVD. It covers music piracy, and though a little on the self-pitying side, really analyses the plight of underground rock bands. "We don't wear no suits and we are not called The" seems an embittered comment, and it is. And why not?

Throughout this album, we're taken on a journey through the mentality of an underground rock band. It begins with the innocence and self-doubt of 'Kick in The Mouth' and 'Some Mothers Do Ave Em' to the unrestrained outrage of ones' dreams being thrown in your face. Knowing you cannot win but trying anyway. sadly as Lenman sings in track 12; "Lean a little bit closer, I'll make it plain, You don't stand a fucking chance".

I've drawn my line in the sand and listened to what I considered my "make or break" moment for Reuben, their second album on which I would base my decision. They still stand precariously in the middle. This album is good. It has moments of greatness and affability in spades. You love the people behind it, but can't quite love it. Sooner or later, Reuben will have to make a choice as to whether they wish to be a band everybody likes or a band who some people will kill for.

If not, then just…
"Tall tales to tell my son/ And that is cool for twenty one"

Yeh, that's cool for anyone.