The echoey billows of fuzz and clamor that Jered Gummere's guitar brought to the late and lamented Ponys has found a new home in the group Richard Vain, and their debut album
Night Jammer is a compelling amalgam of garage punk and gritty psychedelia, full of potent atmosphere and raw but satisfying sounds. It's impressive just how deep and how muscular Richard Vain sound, given their somewhat unusual lineup. Gummere dominates the arrangements with his guitar, and his accompanists are a keyboard player named Carbomb and a drummer known Lugs (both also play in Storm Clouds). The low end on
Night Jammer is more felt than heard, without a bass or a second guitar on hand, yet at its best this music is towering; the trio generates a wall of skronky majesty despite their limited numbers. As a songwriter, Gummere's melodies are streamlined but sturdy, and they give him plenty of room to explore the territory with his guitar. Gummere isn't a chops-intensive six-string hero, but he can wrench the right kind of sounds from his instrument, and what he lays out here is strong and effective. The mix pushes the lyrics down far enough to make them play second fiddle to the music, but these performances are powerfully eloquent in their cool fury, with the jagged sounds in the front adding plentiful textures to the firm foundation of Carbomb's keys and Lugs's traps. And for a band decisively short on hard rock moves, "Behind the Eyes" is about as heavy as it gets; running through nine tracks in 37 minutes,
Night Jammer sounds like it's still working itself up to a big finish when "Recluse" comes to a close. As an opening salvo from Richard Vain, this music shows they have style, ideas, and potential to spare. ~ Mark Deming