Medusas - Vulture In the Sky

Medusas

Vulture In the Sky
self-released; 2015

3.7 out of 5

By Mike Przygoda

Vulture In The Sky by Medusas is an EP of trippy jangle-pop influenced by several members of the Traveling Wilburys while traveling through a Western.

The title track “Vulture in the Sky” opens the EP with driving acoustic guitars, smoky slide guitars, and driving bass and drums. It combines the dark desert highways David Lynch might be collaborating on with Ennio Morricone with some vocal stylings of Tom Petty. The melody is very catchy, playing over the jangle-y pop that the song evolves into. The vocals are mixed quite low which may be a stylistic choice, but it would be nice for them to be more out front and as prominent as the rest of the band.

“A Leaf From A Scattered Tree” is built around surf guitar vibrato and could fit into a montage from a film from the 1960s. The melody and vocal inflections are George Harrison-esque:  dreamy, light and airy. Again here, the band is immaculately recorded with each rim click on the snare echoing out with clarity and the guitar solo singing out into the ether. The vocals, however, are buried again.

“We Don’t Belong” opens up with a repetitive riff that increases in tempo gradually before the band takes off. The bass is the hero on this song, working in great power pop tradition of being supportive, driving and contrapuntal. The guitar solos are interesting, changing in tone drastically throughout but with some clever lines throughout. On this song, the vocals sit well in the mix, and it really makes the song come alive.

The EP closes with “Sweet Misty River,” a slow trippy song that recalls more George Harrison qualities. The vocals are delivered in a dreamy haze, emulating some great late ‘60s Britpop.  The guitar moves between a contrapuntal line and some reverbed arpeggios building a great backdrop. There’s also a trippy effect on the tambourine, which adds to the psychedelia.  The song resolves in a Beatles-ish fashion and makes for a nice conclusion to the EP.

The songwriting and performances on the album are very good.  Some more attention to the mix might help the vocals really come out and the songs come even more alive.

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