White Knuckled Substance - Vendetta Red

Seattle's Vendetta Red seems to realize that a memorable chorus can rescue just about anything from the awful land of rehashed musical ideas, and on their debut disc they create a few moments that do bring their emo-rocking, At the Drive-In-loving sound to a credible level. Zach Davidson's vocals are impressively powerful in a Jeremy Enigk sort of fashion, and he is just as commendable when he strips things down to his pretty tough-sounding scream. The "written to be a hit single" singalong rock of "Shatterday" is a particularly telling moment where the band is aiming to find their niche, and based on a tremendously lucrative deal that came to the band shortly after this record's release, it seems they have fit in just fine. The disc sometimes wastes its breath on mopey emo listlessness or piano-based tracks that are a bit less effective, but when they do bring it all back to full speed -- on tracks like the charged-up "All Cried Out" -- they at least make a more credible attempt at rocking and occasionally serve to really impress. Vendetta Red occasionally sounds contrived, but at other points they overflow with the kind of hardcore honesty that really makes a band powerful. This probably isn't the best of its kind out there, but it's also doubtful that this is the best they have in them. ~ Peter J. D'Angelo, All Music Guide