After an almost decade-long wait, the second album from Melbourne based Ecca Vandal is a collection of gritty-punk anthems boasting an eclectic list of crossover-influences.
Ecca Vandal’s route into the punk-scene was a non-conventional one; born in South Africa to Sri Lankan Tamil parents who fled the civil war and eventually resettled in Australia, she grew up listening to gospel music before a dig through her sister’s record collection opened the floodgates to ‘90s R&B and Hip Hop. After a self-driven segue into jazz music widened her palette, the end artistic product was a self-titled debut in 2017 which showcased a unique attention grabbing machination of Beastie Boys driven shoutyness laden with ‘80s synths.
Interestingly, punk is a genre which is somewhat universally borderless in its musical identity; the DIY ethos and anti-establishment element exist globally, making it a sensible foray for any artist with something worth shouting about. When combined with a life contextualised by eclectic experience, it becomes easy to visualise in sonic form. Ecca Vandal has East Asian trailblazers like MIA to thank as much as any of the original ‘70s mohawks and tartan kilts.
As was the case with her debut, LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO UNFOLLOW fires out short and sharp compositions indebted to a massive array of sonic influences, making it a kaleidoscopic follow up which never seems to stay static between any of its seventeen tracks. In that sense, it’s an engaging listen which opens with a more archetypal run of heavy tracks wherein the cathartic wails of ‘90s era Deftones soar through the tight chorus of EYES SHUT, and the hardcore edge of Turnstile’s early material smash through with sharp vocal delivery and aggressive simplicity via the rhythm guitars of CRUISING TO SELF SOOTHE.
At the halfway point there’s a noticeable divergence towards the hip-hop influences which formed the basis of their early influences. Towards the album’s closing tracks there’s space for the garage rock DANCE IN DEBT, which rages for thirty-four short seconds before an outrageous beat switch into the breakcore low-end of GHOSTS. At times it’s easy to become lost in the assortment of stylistic handbrake turns, but widening the appeal of her reach seems to be an intentional product of the years spent outside of the spotlight following her arrival to the scene. And in doing so, the timing seems right.
Fluidity across genres seem to be more prevalent than ever before these days, as trap artists regularly unleash chugging guitars and guttural screams, and punk revivalists seamlessly throw in broken beat interludes and stuttered vocals. Just take a look at some of the UK scene’s festival lineups of recent years; Manchester’s Outbreak festival seem to be fully aware of this sonic thaw in tensions between the previously at odds scenes, as bands like Knocked Loose find themselves sharing the bill with rappers like JPEGMAFIA, Danny Brown and even EsDeeKid.
In that sense, Ecca Vandal’s pause between albums could be a masterstroke; arriving at a moment when her crossover appeal is at a dizzyingly marketable peak, it seems she is primed for increased exposure and a whole bunch of new fans. Being invited to open for heavyweights like Deftones and even Limp Bizkit is hard evidence that this synthesis of sounds could be a trend manufactured for longevity. So long as her influences continue to stay this far reaching, then there really could be something for everyone before long. Not a bad strategy, that.
