James Sullivan: Vital Signs
CD | LP | DL
James Sullivan returns with his second solo album, Vital Signs, as he finds himself with a new focus as a solo artist now that the raging amps of More Kicks have finally been unplugged for the last time. But once again James fully embraces the DIY punk ethic as he plunders a whole range of emotions all of which are neatly enveloped amongst driving rhythms, saturated guitars and the melodious charm which has become his trademark sound.
As a singer, songwriter and guitarist, James Sullivan has always embraced a DIY punk ethic which has underpinned the garage and punk influences which have shaped so much of his musical output to date. But then again, his eclectic sonic textures have always been wrapped around his penchant for melodic charm which has always made his songs so instantly memorable and catchy, regardless of the often-troubled narratives which may be entangled within the songs. All of this is certainly relevant to James’ second solo album, Vital Signs, which comes at a pivotal time is his already varied career in the music business.
Whilst now London based, James’ first band from his teenage years, Ripchord, was very much rooted in his homeland of the West Midlands as he took his first major steps into the world of indie pop. But lasting only a couple of years, this morphed very quickly into the garage punk soundscapes of the multi-national ‘apocalypse pop supergroup’ known as Suspect Parts. James then formed More Kicks in London in 2017, stepping more into the forefront in the role of sole singer and songwriter. This garage pop trio toured Europe extensively and released two highly acclaimed albums, the second of which, Punch Drunk, was featured by Louder Than War as an Album of the Week in September 2022.
But it was in the lengthy period of down time before Punch Drunk was released and the next batch of live dates were due to commence that James began to reflect on life in the music business, especially after such an intense period of writing and recording, including the release of his first lockdown inspired solo album Light Years. As James explains, “I was worried what would happen if I stopped. So I headed back to my cupboard-sized ‘studio’ and plugged in my half-broken tape machine.” And that is when Vital Signs was born, albeit to gestate quietly on a shelf whilst More Kicks ran what would prove to be its final course.
Fast forward into 2023 and James clearly began to feel that something wasn’t quite right, noting that “It took me a long time to realise that I didn’t want to make another record with More Kicks. I was obsessed with making us as good as we could be, but suddenly I didn’t feel like writing new More Kicks songs and I had this finished record sitting there doing nothing.” So it was this that was the real catalyst to reignite James’ solo career even though he acknowledges that “making records on my own isn’t something I exclusively want to do from now on, but it’s an insanely fast and perceptive way of doing things. Especially doing it on tape where once it’s done, it’s done. Writing music with no external input is a dangerous game but it is also really nice to have zero filters or restrictions of instrument, texture, theme.”
[embedded content]
Vital Signs explodes into life with the rhythmic explosion and harmonious chorus lines of It’s Good To Be Wrong with an immediate nod to the raw musical simplicity of the Modern Lovers and the driving energy of The Replacements. In My Best Friend, James strips it down to just his vocals and an electric guitar as he approaches the very emotive topic of the failure of a long term relationship with his usual deference to light-hearted melody whilst at the same time declaring that “The more I push together, the more it tears apart.”
A metronomic drum beat and a weaving bassline heralds the start of My Right Boot which ebbs and flows between its sparsely constructed verses and the rousing and anthemic chorus line that kicks in mid song. The Dylan-style acoustic arrangement of All I Wanna Do (Is Do Nothing With You) really exemplifies the obvious emotional heartbreak that oozes from the narrative, whilst the string soaked and, at times, wildly overblown chamber quartet style ramblings of La Rochelle introduce an intense sense of drama into the proceedings.
[embedded content]
Day Late Dollar Short was the first single to emerge from this album and draws very much on James’s classic garage punk roots with a driving rhythm and fuzzed up guitars underpinning strong melodies and harmonious chorus lines. As James explains, “It’s a slightly self-lacerating song. I must have been pissed off with myself on that day. Blaming myself for screwing up, bordering on self-pity about always being a day late, dollar short.” This theme also continues through Endless Summer, albeit in a more melodic and stripped-down mode as James sings about wasting “an endless summer waiting for a love to appear.” At least on this occasion it seems to have a happier ending.
The blitzed-out fuzz returns right through Dronify as the saturated guitar threatens to blow the amps completely as the song draws to a conclusion. In Guilty As Charged James returns to the spoken word approach he employed so successfully on his debut solo album as the narrative conveys a seemingly failed attempt to make a case for a miscarriage of justice. Back To The Start closes out the album with James’ heartfelt vocal delivery portraying a real sense of frustration and resignation that he cannot seem to move forward. Hopefully the fact that this album has now seen the light of day will put that feeling very much to bed.
Vital Signs is an album that was written by James amidst a self-confessed unconscious feeling of being somewhat beaten up musically and personally with reference to his band being on the brink of breaking up and a raw sense of personal heartbreak due to a recent failed relationship. In spite of all this, it proves to be another triumph of sweet melody over deep adversity as James weaves the narrative through an emotional roller-coaster ride, with a seamless blend of bleakness and sheer dissatisfaction through to romance and a sense of hope for the future.
I will always remain thankful that these songs did not remain on a shelf as one of the great lost albums and I just hope that this album does prove to be a vital sign to what lies ahead for this talented singer songwriter. And whilst we cannot yet be sure what this future might look like, there is little doubt that James’ obsessive desire to write songs will continue for some time to come. As James says himself, “I’ve accepted my fate that I’m a lifer.” Amen to that!
You can buy Vital Signs here.
You can find James Sullivan on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram and Bandcamp.
~
All words by Ian Corbridge. You can find more of his writing at his author profile.
We have a small favour to ask. Subscribe to Louder Than War and help keep the flame of independent music burning. Click the button below to see the extras you get!
