The Vanity Set - Little Stabs of Happiness

Former drummer and super-leggy rocker, James Schlavunos and The Vanity Set are back with their sophomore album, Little Stabs of Happiness, an album filled to the brink with daunting, enigmatic tell-tales and verbose lyrics. Those of you familiar with Mr. Schlavunos may remember him from the just-as-creepy Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, but he has also performed his services for the likes of such bands as The Cramps, The Jerks, Sonic Youth and Teenage Jesus. From the first track, “The Big Bang,” with its slow, creepy-crawly guitars, harmoniously, hypnotizing vocals (thanks to the lovely Catherine Mendola) and bass that seems to drip from the speakers, to the title track, “Little Stabs of Happiness,” I imagined that I was in the company of (or conceivably captured by) a nomadic freak show. I anticipated that at any moment, odd-legged babies and awfully hairy women would surface above the edge of my bed and taunt me with small, hairy hands. Of course, Schlavunos is the magical ringleader—would he fit any other role better? The Vanity Set also thrive in making the Bee Gees’ “I Started A Joke” seem wickedly delicious, yet all-the-more charming. While all of the tunes on the album are alluring features of death, despair, and things that go bump in the night, I must suggest to you “No Regrets,” a tune that builds its character slowly, but surely. It rises to the occasion, creeping inch-by-inch until all that is left are the screams of guitars, the growls of the bass and a celestial choir that compliments bewilderment of the shackles of love with perfect climaxes in Schlavunos’s voice and a touch of clarinet played by Jennifer Carey. The closing track, “The Bell Song,” brings loopy drumbeats while it dances and swirls about your head. It allows for the same manifestation as Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Bells.” Perhaps that is why I love this album. It is rich in difference, and though the element of death is present, it is very much alive. It takes me to some hidden area of the forest, home to gypsy-midgets and some amazing lizard boy...well, it does! Little Stabs of Happiness delivers just what the name implies, and as the title track sings: “Let temptation have its wicked way.” If you have not already, grip your hairy claws—er, hands—on it now. [www.thevanityset.com]