X Ambassadors - VHS

X Ambassadors
VHS
2015

The idea of a truly naked album is an ideal, but hardly ever one realized. The debut album from X Ambassadors VHS gets about as damn close as you possibly can to that fire without burning yourself. Highly evocative and highly personal VHS flat out chronicles the history of the band and all the things that have brought them to this moment. The sound is eclectic and erratic. At one minute it can be melodic and even catchy then on the next track aggressive and disturbing ("Gorgeous", "Fear"). They are reminiscent of AWOLNATION but on a much smaller scale, the anthems never soar quite the same but the sound both vocally and musically is quite similar. Because there is so much going on with this record, strings, synths, drums ect. ect. that you do loose something in the final product. Some of the music can come across as just to much, where some editing may have come in handy to reign the record in a bit.

The direction, a history of the band, comes across through the music and through sporadic interludes which are interesting but don't serve a real purpose. The song everyone has probably heard is "Jungle". It is on almost every sports montage, commercial or highlight reel out there and has a powerful backbeat and that foot stomping arena rock style vibe that people go nuts for. The song has been so pervasive that it does take a bit away from the album as a whole it being on there, but there is obviously no way to exclude it. other standouts on the record are "Naked" and "Renegades" which both follow that same group vocal sing-a-long style. In the end VHS is a really solid debut and one people will be hearing, whether they like it or not, for a long time coming.

7 out of 10