Velocity Girl

Yet another one of those bands that I can't believe I haven't written about! It's almost wrong of me to have written about Julie Ocean a couple of posts back given that I hadn't yet written about Velocity Girl! Anyhow, on with the post...

I first heard the band when the record store I was working at received a promo copy of Simpatico and I put it on. It was one of those instant love affairs that happen less and less for me these days with albums. I listened to the record at least once every shift and sold a few copies here and there. I loved most every song on the record and soon learned that they had already had other releases out. One of the most depressing things to me is that I never got to see them live. They played a 21 and over venue the tour for this album and I had not yet acquired my fake ID that would soon save my underage ass from missing great shows. I have too many favorite tracks from this record so I picked the one that highlighted both Sarah and Archie's vocals.
The All Consumer

In my quest to be a very informed fan I then purchased their first full length cd. The album Copacetic didn't hit me in the same way. I think that I liked the production less and maybe the songs just weren't resonating with me in the same way. Their songwriting seemed like it had grown in the right ways between those first two records. Don't get me wrong though, there are still gems on that first full length. My favorite:
Audrey's Eyes

Then I picked up the ep that had some of the Bridget Cross vocals on it. (Bridget left VG to join Unrest.) I enjoyed the early songs and her vocals quite a bit. Thought it was an interesting move to keep the band name but switch out vocalists. Not a practice I condone! Well, obviously they had their success with Sarah Shannon on vocals and that is the VG I think of when I think of them. A nice glimpse of where they were coming from though.
I Don't Care If You Go

That brings us to their last release. Gilded Stars And Zealous Hearts was released in 1996. (My brain remembers 1995 for some reason....) I actually found it to be their strongest record with all the songs being really well written. Maybe a bit too polished and definitely the sounds of a band growing up but still strong. I was quite dismayed when they disbanded as I thought they would be around for awhile! After all these years, the song I'm posting still gets a lot of plays by me. It's a great mix track, especially for road trips.
Go Coastal