V-PROJECT – New Machine

Every now and then you get a CD to review and not only does the cover do nothing for you, the title of the band doesn’t help either. What’s next you think? Checking for band members should help most likely. Nope, not this time! Damn, this is going to suck you think to yourself over and over. Well, it has to be listened to and reviewed, so bite the bullet and just get it over with… basically just do your job as professionally as possible.

The CD player starts and the first track kicks in. Okay, so far so good. Next track… not bad. Third track is a great version of a Steve Miller tune. Fourth track is killer. Damn!!! This CD isn’t as bad as anticipated before nothing was known of it. As a matter of fact before you know it, you’re boppin’ around unable to sit still or tapping fingers/feet. It just can’t be helped. The CD is mesmerizing and puts on a spell, or something similar, before you know what is happening. It’s really that catchy and easy to groove to. Plain and simple… it is full of some good ole’ fashioned Rock music that you just can’t turn away. The saying….“don’t judge a book by its cover” has never been more evident than with this CD.

This band, if you can call it that, is fairly obscure and made up of only two band members/musicians. The V-Project is David Vaccaro’s pet. He came up with the idea and after the first album Lost Demos was not only a success, the popularity of this project prompted David and Robin to hook up once more for their second release, New Machine. The other half of the band is Robin McAuley. He is the better known of the two. Robin was in MSG (McAuley Shenker Group) later followed by Survivor where he remains lead vocalist today. David was introduced to Robin by a mutual friend on the west coast where the two hit it off. David by now had paid his dues by doing the Boston music scene where he played all types of gigs in all types of establishments. The west coast trip paid off for the both of them in a big way.

Robin is the vocalist and co-writer on only four songs on the entire album. These being: “Exit Sign,” “Somebody Like You,” “You Don’t Care,” and “Tangled In Your Web.” The remainder of the album (6 songs) is done solely by David where he sings and plays all instruments (talk about a talented guy). There is one remake on the album which is Steve Miller’s “The Stake.” You can listen to it several times over and over and swear you are listening to the original, especially if you haven’t heard it in a while. The opener, “Exit Sign” sounds like a Southern Rock/Blues tune with plenty of slide guitar… the whole time rockin’ along. It is a real good opening tune that gets you curious as to what might come next. “Somebody Like You” follows and perhaps it isn’t quite as rockin’ as the opener, it still maintains a decent groove and has some nice guitar solos in appropriate spots while it is mostly acoustic. The tight continuous bass in this song makes it what it is. After the remake comes “Disclaimer” which is without a doubt the hardest/heaviest tune out of the bunch. It has awesome continuous deep bass throughout, real nice harmonies, and tight drum/cymbal work with just the right feel without overdoing it. “Desert Run” has a Spanish/Southern flair with a touch of acoustic/flamenco on top of a strong bass and keyboard riff with a slightly rockin’ beat to it. It is a very interesting combination of musical textures all mixed together that makes it rather unique.

“You Don’t Care” uses acoustic guitar but with a Mexican flair throughout most of this track. The vocals get a bit intense and harder however with a touch of orchestration thrown in for good measure. Another song with good imagination and an interesting mixture of sounds. “Tangled In Your Web” brings Glen Hughes to mind right off the bat for some reason. A pretty cool song overall with a little bit of Zeppelin pizzazz added to top things off. “On Yer Way” is a slower tune compared to the rest with some good raw (nothing too flashy but very effective) guitar work making this non-complicated track sound heavier than it actually is. The two mellower tunes of the bunch are “Time To Move On” and “Back To My Baby.”

So there it is in a nutshell. There are ten tracks on the album that take up almost 46 minutes. Has the sophomore jinx been eliminated or passed by this time around? From the overall sound of this new album, an emphatical YES is the correct response in this case without a doubt. New Machine isn’t one of those albums that will knock your socks off but you will find yourself putting it into your CD player (whether at home or in your car) and listening to it more than you would have expected.