If you like your rock stripped back and simple then this is for you.
If PJ Harvey and Josh Homme had got together about a decade earlier and decided to indulge their mutual garage-punk influences this is what it may well have sounded like.
Truth be told "How Did It Get To This" isn’t quite as good as that intro suggests, but there is certainly plenty of promise in this dark and edgy debut from the British duo known simply as Ros and Vas. The comparison is apt, however, for there is plenty in the vocals that recalls the Harvey of "Uh Huh Her" (indeed the Power of Three was produced by her producer) and the guitars feel like Homme circa Kyuss’s "Wretch". These are straightforward, though enjoyable, tunes.
Opener 'Violence' is all feedback and fuzzed-up guitars, and a raucous, if somewhat basic, chorus. But they belie their simplistic sounds by playing with more alternative timings and rhythms that keep you guessing, and more importantly, keep you listening. As such 'Don’t Know What Love Is' sounds like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and the aforementioned 'Power Of Three' feels more like Enon.
Lyrical clichés come by the handful, however. These girls are both “the queen of heavy metal” and “rock ‘n’ roll freaks,” and for kicks they “just want to stick their heads in the bass drum”. Elsewhere there is plenty of heartbreak, betrayal, and rather tame efforts at being sexy, “I just want to kiss you hard til you cum,” being perhaps the worst example.
For a double act, however, they certainly make plenty of noise, and all in all they’re good at it. Quieter tunes have yet to be mastered, if 'Photograph' and closer 'Violence Is In The Air' are anything to go by. Neither the lyrics nor the delivery of them make up for the drop in tempo, and without more sounds to play with there is little room for them to manoeuvre.
This pair are undoubtedly at their best when they keep it quirky. Their straight punk numbers are far too plain to warrant repeated listens and their slow-burners are distinctly half-baked. Instead, experimenting further with a sound closer to the more intriguing tracks that start the album off could well see this pair turn into a very essential outfit on the garage-rock circuit.