VIVID NATION – TIME TO MEND EP REVIEW

The story runs that the people in Kent are split up into two group: men and maids of Kent and Kentish men and maids. It all depends on which side of the River Medway you were born on.
Kentish men and maids, so the rule goes, come from west of the river; men and maids of Kent hail from the east. Whether I qualify as a Kentish, having been born in Gloucester, some 150-ish miles west of the Medway is highly debatable.

For musicians and bands though, the county can be split up into two different categories. You won’t find Kentish bands or bands of Kent. No sirree, Bob. Instead, you’ll find a flotilla of folk and acoustic acts in the north and west; a rabble of hard rockers to the south and east, with the dividing line running somewhere through Canterbury.

Of course, this is a rather crude analysis and leaves out the plethora of prog and other acts lurking in the county. But for the purposes of this article, this all too simplistic overview works well enough.

You’ll find the folk and acoustic acts aplenty in west and north Kent. Check out Cry Baby Special, Los Wheels and Laveer. Meanwhile, the rockers appear further east. See Call Off The Search, Autumn Few and Promise Me Tomorrow (more on them soon).

And now, please add to that list Vivid Nation.

Vivid Nation fit comfortably into the thrashy, emo genre: all gloomy lyrics about life going wrong, needing to make amends or seek forgiveness. And, of course, this all comes with an extra side order of chugging bass lines, sneering/groaning vocals and thumping chords.

The band has a three track EP out going by the name of “Time to Mend”. And it’s already been very well received with airplay on five different radio stations, including BBC Kent Introducing, and a headlining appearance at Chislehurst Rocks!.

All this, despite a line-up change thanks to two members leaving for university.

“Time to Mend” is an angst ridden crashing, banging and walloping EP. Everything’s in the right place.

There’s the quiet before the storm gentleness of melodies and the tumultuous storm of thumping and bashing which inevitably follows, through to the miserablist lyrics: “talk a walk and think again/and I feel the pain inside”, “please give me the time to mend/what I destroyed in the end”, “you’re scared of being pulled apart/and the you’ll have to make a new start”.

You get the idea.

The songs here tick all the US punk/angst ridden emo rock boxes, taking themes and ideas from the genre and re-working them to their own ends. There’s nothing particularly new here, but it’s good, solid stuff which will undoubtedly please live audiences.

Find out more about Vivid Nation on their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/VIVID-NATION/278584438918?sk=app_2405167945