The Veils

Things aren't quite as sunny for Finn Andrews (son of XTC's Barry Andrews) and his Veils compared to their last album. Sun Gangs finds the band expanding their horizons, but not always in the best way. For example, trying to channel the Doors is an ill-advised move at the best of times, but doing it on an eight-and-a-half-minute epic that manages to successfully capture their every overblown cliché just kills the album's momentum dead. Thankfully it doesn't happen until the penultimate track and the majority of what comes before is much more reminiscent of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, just like in the past. But this time there's more of a focus on Cave's unhinged, spookier moments. Andrews definitely has some demons he wants to share this time around and that works to his advantage. Sun Gangs does manage to thrive on its darkness and as long as it doesn't try to shake off the pop sensibilities of its much more satisfying predecessors it can be considered at least a partial success.