The Scottish rockers that Kurt Cobain casually name-dropped on Nirvanna’s stellar 1994 MTV Unplugged In New York are at it once again, releasing an acoustic video performance of “One Lost Year” on YouTube. The Vaselines have a new album due out here in the States on October 7th, the first time we’ve heard new material from the group in four years.
Since their inception in 1986, The Vaselines have had a cult following since Nirvanna began singing their praises some twenty years ago, but there has been very little from the group since their 2010 album Sex With An X, yet the video for “One Lost Year” leaves us wondering where all the time has gone. Featuring Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee, the founding members of the group, the video showcases a musical potential that has still yet to be fully untapped, and plays to a side of the group not widely explored: a softer, bare acoustic sound with just guitars and vocals. This is The Vaselines like you’ve never heard them before, a fresh contrast to the harder, grungier sound that you’ve come to expect.
There are groups that fade away, and then there are groups that are impossible to push out of our minds. While there have only been sporadic performances from the group since the 2010 Bowlie Weekender Festival in the United Kingdom, this recorded performance offers a glimpse into what we might expect from the reformed group should a tour accompany the album. Listen to the acoustic performance here, and let your ears feast on this musical banquet.
Leave a Comment