"Funkfurtastic," says Steve Clark, Vibrolux vocalist/guitarist, using one of those uniquely rock 'n' roll jumble-word creations to sum up his band's stage presence.
Indeed, the rapidly-rising four-piece is a difficult to pin down to one clear, concise catch-phrase, despite the fact the boys love to bandy about the words "groove" and "funk" with reckless abandon.
The music on Vibrolux's self-titled debut (Shoreline/Select) regularly churns with dark, gritty pop songs, but live, the group is definitely in tune with rock's glamourous edge. "I've got a funk fur coat I kinda hafta wear," says guitarist Kevin Mckay, "It's usually onstage somewhere [when we play]."
A little over two years ago, Clark and loop 'n' splicer Julian Durzi began constructing Vibrolux. Mckay and bassist Paul Puzzella were brought in a year later. With the video for the disc's first single, "Drown," getting solid play on the nation's music station, it could be just a matter of time before the Vibrolux posters start appearing on bedroom walls nationwide.
The "Drown" video was filmed in a bomb shelter built at the height of the cold war outside Ottawa. Coined the "Diefenbunker," The Toronto band is the first to have ever filmed in the nuclear holocast defence facility. Good story - drinking Scotch in the prime quarters. "His room was bigger than anyone's," says Clark.
Since obtaining what is essentially Canadian band manna from heaven - Muchmusic heavy rotation - the band has worked its way even further into the Chum/City building consciousness. Its songs have already appeared on Ooh La La and Fashion Television. They shamelessly say they're honoured to have had their music be the soundtrack to nipple-bearing supermodels and Versace features.
"We haven't done the big TV appearance yet," says Mckay, qualifying their successes. "We want to play at the Peach Pit on [Beverly Hills]90210."
Clark adds, "The Simpsons rule. If we could get on that would be something else. They haven't asked us for Breakfast Television yet. We'll probably have to stay up all night [to do it]," he continues. "We'll turn the lights down low, wear shades."
The Vibrolux sound encompasses a whole series of contradictions and divergent influences. Tracks like "Ahead" and "Superstar" scream out bastard child of Jesus and Mary Chain, but only Durzi claims to be a fan. Backing beats on many songs rock like Manchester, but the vocals and guitars often drone like shoegazer. Funk is important, but the boys know more Snoop Doggy Dogg than Atomic Dog. Hell, even the big chrome "V" logo looks like something culled from a heavy-metal album, though Clark assures, "That like an ancient vintage car thing, a caddy."
Vibrolux definitely don't do heavy metal. In fact, Puzzella, the seemingly quietist and most laid-back member of the band, laments that their rehearsal space is on teh same floor as all the heavy metal guys. "They're so loud," he says in passing.
No, Vibrolux lean more towards the clean-cut Canadian boy mold - albeit with velvet pants on. Puzzella could be the brother of Philadelphia Flyers' Rod Brind 'Amour: Durzi is suspiciously reminiscent of Lucas from the movie Empire Records; Clark passes for Paul Gascoingne, an English soccer star and Mckay vaguely smacks of that Party of Five pretty boy, except with longer, curlier hair.
Yet even with all this on its side, Vibrolux remains poised at that point where it either breaks out into the I Mother Earth/Our Lady Peace turf or gets relegated to underdog status.
The guys have ixnayed the "World Domination" T-shirts slogans. "We'll probably be a little more discreet than that," says Clark. More like, "Put the groove back into rock 'n' roll." However, touring Canada soon is in the cards and a number one hit is definitely the eventual goal. Three years from now? "A song in the top ten Billboard," says Clark.
They're starting to fine-tune the plan, too. Vibrolux just recorded a three-song demo with Jagori Tanna from I Mother Earth, which will hopefully attract the major label sharks.
The new songs lean more toward classic pop, according to Clark. This seems difficult since the current batch of Vibrolux tunes already hover around the three-and-a-half minute mark. McKay qualifies this: "We have short attention spans and they're getting shorter."
Eventually, most big pop bands (The Beatles, The Who) go for the massive concept album. Is Vibrolux going to jet out on some kind of "spiritual journey," then come back and create a White Album?
We're thinking more like going to Wyoming or something and finding some peyote," says Clark.
