Tom Vek - Luck

‘Luck’ opens with the hypnotic refrain of ‘How Am I Meant To Know’, which sees Vek’s multi-layered vocals asking sharp questions such as “What will you think of me”, while his blurry background chant repeats infinitely, simply “How am I meant to know?”. It’s a fitting opener, basic on the face of it but wilfully pushing the envelope in how much repetition the listener can enjoy, even endure. Vek’s desire to experiment in directions he could only ever stumble towards is ultimately his undoing. You’d never know it though after the ludicrously addictive ‘Sherman (Animals in the Jungle)’, a song as perfect as any throughout the year so far, with a jagged riff that’s almost grasping the baton it took from Bloc Party’s ‘Helicopter’. By the end of the artfully chaotic ‘Broke’ the bunting is practically hanging awaiting the triumphant return of spiky guitar bands. The Rakes are at the door. Then ‘Luck’ turns to misfortune and Vek gently closes the door on the whole parade. The ropey synth-led misguided threat of ‘Ton of Bricks’ before the awkwardly bad ‘Trying to Better’. Trying to really sing is probably the biggest error here, and in amongst the changing scenery the attempts to turn his signature scratchy vocal into a Foals-style swoon. It’s an attempt he only occasionally relents in as the album spirals towards its increasingly dance-pop conclusion.

For someone who studied Graphic Design it’s obvious Tom Vek knows when to use negative space and the value of simplicity, and at their best the things he constructs are impeccable, as ‘Sherman’ demonstrates. But that’s the issue, with his optimum so narrow, Vek pushes beyond it and in trying to create songs in different tones he ends up with results that are often, as harsh as it sounds, ugly. Disappointingly, there’s no obvious solution, he’s almost inviting serendipity to help the pieces fall in to face, but no matter how much he asks for it he’s just not had the luck he requested.

It’s the sort of abstract conundrum that Tom Vek himself would craft a song about. More questions than answers, more problems than solutions, but with just enough moments of sheer brilliance to justify it as a release. It’s difficult to know exactly what was expected or hoped for from ‘Luck’ but it’s hard to escape the feeling it’s not quite been delivered.

Tags: Tom Vek, Reviews, Album Reviews