VINNIE LOVES THE VINCENTS (NO RELATION)

I thought it was pretty sweet when I, vinnie, received a package in the mail from some people named “The Vincents.” And when it turned out to be a CD, that was even sweeter. Nothing beats having free music sent your way. Well, nothing beats having good free music sent your way. The Vincents are three guys I would not want to piss off in a dark alley. Even if they are the most harmless, non-violent creatures to ever walk the Earth, their songs have me convinced otherwise. Guitarist/vocalist Eric Mahoney, other guitarist Jake Twynham and drummer Matt Wiltse take to your stereo with a rock-hard fury. The first song on their five-song self-titled EP is “Freak Out.” The guitars start wailing, the bass creeps in all sinister-like, and the vocals slither out of the speakers strangely distorted. It’s thick and slow-paced, but absolutely menacing. Then they throw things into overdrive with “Mainstream.” And that’s when you understand these brothers will beat your eardrums bloody. It’s not pretentious. It’s not frat-party sports anthems. It’s not whiny bitch, sad teenager music. It’s loud, heavy rock and roll. Some music journalists compare the sound to Iggy Pop or the Jesus Lizard, and that’s pretty damn accurate. I think they also sound like themselves. I don’t really have anything like this in my collection, but it’ll fit just fine on the shelves. Visit thevincents.com to get a copy of the disc.