The Vacant Lots
Departure
Release Date: Jul 1, 2014
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock
Record label: Sonic Cathedral
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Album Review: Departure by The Vacant Lots
Fairly Good, Based on 3 Critics
Based on rating 3.5
Having initially formed in Burlington, Vermont in 2009, it’s taken American duo The Vacant Lots a while to release a debut long player and it comes in a year of some already vital psychedelic rock albums. Their first single Confusion emerged in early 2011, and followed a successful US tour with Sonic Boom’s band Spectrum after a personal invitation. The ex-Spacemen 3 legend subsequently took Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen under his wing and Departure arrives only after the wizard has waved his wand over mixing and mastering proceedings.
Based on rating 6/10
Duo Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen operate under the name the Vacant Lots, and on their debut album, Departure, they show off their psychedelic and collaborative interplay. The two take minimal rock elements—guitar, drums, voice—and expand them to their limits, sometimes with the help of electronics. Much of Departure is eccentric and experimental, though the band seems to ease us into their stranger side.
Based on rating 5.2/10
Vermont duo the Vacant Lots have been co-signed by Suicide's Alan Vega. Their debut album Departure was mixed by Spacemen 3's Sonic Boom and features guitar work from Galaxie 500's Dean Wareham. They were brought on tour with the Brian Jonestown Massacre. Frontman Jared Artaud just released a poetry book, and if his last name seems familiar, it's because he cribbed it from the French poet Antonin Artaud.
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