ALAN VEGA

Insurrection (In The Red)

LIZ LAMERE

One Never Knows (In The Red)

All has been busy at Vega HQ. Insurrection, a previously unreleased album by the late Alan Vega, is followed by One Never Knows, the second album by Vega’s surviving partner and collaborator, Liz Lamere. Infinite Dreams – a biography of the onetime Suicide vocalist co-written by Lamere and Laura Davis-Chanin – is also published in June.

Suicide, a New York duo completed by Martin Rev, commented frequently on the state of their nation, as did Vega’s solo releases. In 1997, when Insurrection was written and recorded, Vega was reeling from the crime and violence engulfing his home city, as well as America’s foreign policy; the resulting album is a heavy-hitting beast whose sharp, serrated electro-industrial grooves brim with disgust and hope.

Although Vega worked on these tracks nearly three decades ago, they sound like today or even tomorrow. Mercy and its gnarly repetitive beat is classic Vega; Invasion, Chains and  Murder One get the message across too. With Vega’s words on point and incendiary beats to match, Insurrection is a thrilling listen.

 “One never knows” was Vega’s stock phrase on the topic of mortality – what might be around the corner, good or bad – and Lamere, who knew him better than most, has taken it for the title of an album which places her in the same ballpark as Siouxsie or Alison Goldfrapp. Its lead single, Vibration, is a dark electro-pop belter, and there’s a real beauty to album tracks Mind and If Only. An impressive, electronically and emotionally charged album.

words DAVID NOBAKHT