"Babies grow from a mother's lip / When they don't they're seeking one another / Sister and brother in choking white phantasm..."
The bending orchestrations and woozy inclinations of "Don't Die Young" by Athens- Greece experimental rock band The Velvoids and from their upcoming album "JERSEY COTTON" dropping on vinyl and digital platforms on April 25th (2025), is a beautiful mix of dreamy piano, western noir guitar lines dipping into dissonant places, curious words that cast surreal shadows and surfy precise drum beats all narrating a drunken mysterious dance. Constructed around a poem written and published by frontman, Vice Lesley and recorded at home during the initial COVID lockdowns of 2020, the very brief lyrical content feels like words from the ID:
"Babies grow from a mother's lip / When they don't they're seeking one another / Sister and brother in choking white phantasm..."
Written, arranged by Vice Lesley and Dorah X. Performed by The Velvoids, mixed / mastered by Nick Arkomanis at Play Recording, Athens Greece and produced by Nick Arkomanis and Tom Biller (Jon Brion, Beck, Elliott Smith, Sean Lennon) at 5057 Orbit in Pasadena California.
Ultimately, "Don't Die Young" has me feeling an underwater whimsy, beauty, wonk like an amalgam of artists like Grandaddy or Animal Collective or MGMT but even more, maybe The Beach Boys if Brian Wilson was born 20 years later.
LINER NOTES (bracketed):
[The Velvoids are an experimental rock band formed in Athens, Greece in 2003. Their discography consists of numerous albums, EP's, singles, and compilations; several of which have never been issued on digital format. The band has shared the stage with the likes of Marky Ramone, Murder By Death, David J (Bauhaus), Γιάννης Αγγελάκας (Tripes), Louis Kondoulis (Stress, Earthbound), Black Lips, Dum Dum Girls, Pierced Arrows, The Vibrators, Soft Palms, and The Brian Jonestown Massacre; while collaborating with Richard Lloyd (Television), painter Brian M. Viveros, author Nina Antonia, and producer Tom Biller.]
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://www.youtube.com/c/ThinkbabymusicCollective
https://www.instagram.com/thevelvoids/
https://www.facebook.com/thevelvoids/
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-velvoids/1216725334
https://thevelvoids.bandcamp.com/album/jersey-cotton
The Velvoids are an experimental rock band formed in Athens, Greece in 2003. Their discography consists of numerous albums, EP's, singles, and compilations; several of which have never been issued on digital format. The band has shared the stage with the likes of Marky Ramone, Murder By Death, David J (Bauhaus), Γιάννης Αγγελάκας (Tripes), Louis Kondoulis (Stress, Earthbound), Black Lips, Dum Dum Girls, Pierced Arrows, The Vibrators, Soft Palms, and The Brian Jonestown Massacre; while collaborating with Richard Lloyd (Television), painter Brian M. Viveros, author Nina Antonia, and producer Tom Biller.
The Velvoids are an experimental rock band formed in Athens, Greece in 2003. Their discography consists of numerous albums, EP's, singles, and compilations; several of which have never been issued on digital format. The band has shared the stage with the likes of Marky Ramone, Murder By Death, David J (Bauhaus), Γιάννης Αγγελάκας (Tripes), Louis Kondoulis (Stress, Earthbound), Black Lips, Dum Dum Girls, Pierced Arrows, The Vibrators, Soft Palms, and The Brian Jonestown Massacre; while collaborating with Richard Lloyd (Television), painter Brian M. Viveros, author Nina Antonia, and producer Tom Biller.
The Velvoids, Athens Greece, psychedelic rock, dream pop, lo-fi, experimental rock, abstract, orchestra. upcoming album "Jersey Cotton", whimsy, wonky, dreamy, "Don't Die Young" (Official Video),
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