Minneapolis-based trio VIAL pair their indie-punk sonics with blitzing horns on new single “just fine goes ska” (feat. JER) — a rework of one last year’s releases. Since their formation in 2019, the band has unleashed one formidable head-banger after another, carving out a space for themselves and atomizing every gatekeeping misogynist that stands in their way.
It all started when Taylor Kraemer (keytarist/bassist) and KT Branscom (guitarist) decided to search Tinder for a new drummer with every intention of finding someone who wasn’t a man. The pair kept swiping until they stumbled upon Katie Fischer, who — along with founding member and former bassist Kaitlin Kanfield — completed the quartet.
VIAL burst onto the punk scene with their debut EP Grow Up, which begins with a clamorous evisceration of selfish lovers in the form of “Therapy.” Across seven rapturous tracks, the band runs a gauntlet of sizzling rollickers and woozy acoustic ballads, from fed-up frustrations with one-sided relationships (“Dog Days”) to crushing emotional exhaustion (“Rough,” “Tension”) and existential dread (“Grow Up”).
Two years later, they returned with the aptly-titled Loudmouth, a rip-roaring collection of emphatic middle-fingers and sucker punches aimed right at the groin of the toxic male presence in the punk scene. The entire album courses with blistering riffs and thunderous percussion, lending frenetic and enraged electricity to songs like “Ego Death” and “Planet Drool,” two irresistibly wrathful anthems that espouse the very ethos of VIAL.
Other standouts on the record include the bass-rumbling “Piss Punk” and vengeful fantasy hit-and-run “Roadkill.” Both their EP and LP prove them to be fearsome new avatars of the punk spirit: armed with a dexterous melodic palette and a lyrical bite, they spark romance and heartache as effortlessly as they perform gutting takedowns.
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In 2022, they issued a scathing promise of vengeance in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade with the release of “Embryo.” Now a trio, VIAL spent much of last year touring and prepping for the release of their second album. They also released a flood of singles: on “ur dad” they leave a voicemail exploring a coy but taboo desire and the jauntily despairing confessional “just fine” finds them wrestling laboriously with life’s incessant lows.
Their first release of 2024 — “just fine goes ska” — was created with the help of artist and multi-instrumentalist JER. Together, they layered a clarion of cathartic horns over the track, saturating it in a manic buoyancy that’s once again flexed the band’s talents for genre fluctuations. Keep your ear to the ground for more impending music from VIAL.
Words: Steven Ward
Visit VIAL on their website, Tik Tok, and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
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