A Liverpool trio who go by the moniker of Voo, have been gathering some signifcant attnetion for their gripping live performances of late. With lo-fi melodies that glide easily from tender and fragile dittys to joyous pop powerhouses, they bring to mind comparisons with The Postal Service and Smashing Pumpkins and sound unlike anything that has come out of their native city in the last thousand years.
Formed in the family home (singer/guitarist Graham and bass player Paul are brothers) over a mutual love of alternative Americana, like Hüsker Dü, the line up was completed a year ago when they met drummer John at a festival, got him drunk and “asked him out”. Though their name harks back to an earlier sticksman, Paul says: “It was the first word said by our first drummer, it’s our permanent tribute to him.”
Graham reveals that the age old theme of lost love is what inspires him most musically: “It sounds terrible, and I hate saying it, but most of them are about girls. When I was going out with my girlfriend I wrote about two songs, we spilt up two weeks ago and I have written dozens.” Paul interjects: “We didn’t engineer the break up mind you.”
Visual image is an important factor for the band too, with a lot of thought going into both sleeve art and videos, Paul says: “We are lucky to have loads of friends who are really talented people who do us massive favours in that respect…we will have to start paying them at some point.”
With a album ‘Dates, Facts and Figures’ out soon on Spank Records, their melodies will soon be able to touch a wider audience. I ask them their goal for the future. Graham says: “They keep changing, it was to get the album finished and now it’s to get on tour and just hope the car doesn’t break down.”
By Kenn Taylor
Kenn Taylor 