2023/4 Albums Thing 393 - Vent 414 “Vent 414”
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The Wonder Stuff parted ways after finishing their headlining set at the Phoenix Festival on 15th July 1994.
Miles Hunt’s next move (after a quick gig as an MTV VJ) was to convene an “Indie supergroup” power trio consisting of himself (obviously !), Bass player Morgan Nicholls (The Senseless Things) and drummer Pete Howard (The Clash, Eat). Originally just named Vent they added the 414 (their combined ideal fighting weight in pounds, allegedly) after being made aware of an American band using the name Vent. Initially Vent 414 was a four piece, their 2nd guitarist being The Cult’s Billy Duffy and as such I toured Europe with them in the summer of 1995. The band and he parted ways after that tour.
Vent 414 couldn’t sound any more different to The Wonder Stuff if they tried (and I’m sure they were, trying that is). Miles the singer is still Miles and Miles the lyricist is still…you geddit it ? But this is far removed from the (on the surface) sparkling Indie-pop of The Wonder Stuff. The closest the Stuffies ever got to a sound like this was with “On The Ropes”. The influences on Vent 414 were more American, think Jane’s Addiction, Shudder To Think and Shellac. Talking of Shellac the guy in the “producers” chair was one Steve Albini.
It’s a record I struggle with primarily because of Steve Albini’s “production” (he would likely have bristled at even the suggestion that he “produced” anything, but we shall tag him that here). There are some great songs on this record but I think many of them suffer at the hands of Albini’s methods. It sounds like a band in a room, which in some ways is great, and I know how good this band were as I toured with them. But I want more from an album than it sounding like a band in a room, that’s the starting point not the desired end. The “production” lacks dynamics, highs and lows, for me, and these songs and performers most certainly do NOT lack dynamics, it feels like they weren’t captured.
We begin with “Fixer” arguably the greatest song my brother has yet written. I vividly remember him playing me the demo of it for the first time. If you know the song you’ll know in the middle there is a section which features the lyric “Roll some thoughts and roll some more, Roll some, Roll some, Roll some…” and then the most incredible scream of anguish/pain/anger/frustration/relief on the word “YEAH!”, it’s a shock on the record (click the link below if you don’t know it) but let me tell you on the demo it almost physically knocks you over. One of those moments I’ll never forget.
I could have imagined The Wonder Stuff’s 5th album holding “Fixer” but not much else on here. For many of these songs the catalyst was Morgan’s Bass or Pete’s drumming and both are markedly different from anything in Miles past.
There are great songs here, “At The Base Of the Fire”, “Life Before You”, “Fits & Starts”, “Correctional”, “Guess My God”, the curiously titled “A Night Out With A Foreign Fella” and “2113” are all swathed in shuddering bass lines, thunderous drumming and spiky, jagged guitars. After all that musical brutality we come to “At One”. Recorded, I believe, early one day after a particularly boozy night out. Miles asked the engineer to set up some mics as he wanted to do something by himself. You can hear every one of the previous evenings shots of JD and every cigarette smoked in Miles’ voice. It’s quite beautiful.
My main difficulty is the overall sound. It’s muddy and indistinct, no peaks and troughs, the whole thing flatlines (Except I have to add “Fixer” which tears out of the speakers and attempts to mug you!). Great songs, it’s a shame the end product didn’t let them shine as brightly as the could have. Vent 414 are, as we speak, in the midst of recording a second album, 28 years later, this one being produced by a fan who was prompted to get into music by this very record. What I do know is that the musicians who are making that follow up and who made this record all love it and the way it sounds.