Album Review: “WEIRD VIBES” by The Power, by Vinnie Minnie

Vinnie Minnie:

What if after 1994 rock music got systematically catchier and more fun instead of more counterfeit than mundane? The Power come from that alternate reality and moreover I think that Asheville’s local rock music is the answer to the question. In a world of Shannons and Black Lips, sometimes present day Rock and Roll seems like a trip to the nostalgia store to get your kinky boots and murky reverb. A reach for a time and a sound found in the hidden corners of the last independently owned record store that closed down when you left for college. That’s what’s great here and obvious: love for old records and costumes hastily pulled from the dress up box. Paintings made with brushes with few hairs permanently stuck with paint from the last. At the same time it doesn’t sound like the same regurgitated garage rock meant to sound exactly like the Troggs or early Kinks. The lyrics come from an honest place and that place seems to be the feeling you get when you realize you’re over 30 but you don’t ever plan on growing up but you want to grow up because you’re tired of feeling like a failure in the eyes of your immediate family. That age where you realize what you want, who you want and the proverbial “who you are.” I feel so fortunate to hear this recording of songs by 3 multi-instrumentalists who’s abilities at playing punk blisters and pop dreams are only dwarfed by their ability to create songs that get you pogoing with their catchy hooks and fun melodies. I mean let’s face it here dear readers, THE POWER is the only band that Vinny Minnie, yours very truly, would want to spend his hard earned dubloons on seeing every weekend and I’ve seen and heard it all before my escape from cartoon land. Not since Alvin and The Chipmunks have I heard 3 punks sing together so well. The short songs are punchy and the long songs get along swimmingly. Unfortunately WEIRD VIBES is not just a clever name as THE POWER may never play together again so let’s show our gratitude by listening to their album front to back and maybe singing our favorite selections from it to them when we see them at the grocery store or post office. But what do I know I’m just a cartoon that escaped from television.

Vinny Minnie – Thank you my dear QPOG
2019