Review: Vant – Dumb Blood

Vant have released their highly anticipated debut album Dumb Blood, they’ve got something to say and it’s worth listening.

Residing in the working class city of Sunderland, Matty Vant has been watching the world go by begrudgingly and as a result, he put pen to paper and as a result, 13 tracks came to be of everything that’s not right and Vant are making sure we know exactly what.

The album opens with ‘The Answer’, with a heavy bass-line intro, a long tense build up. Lead singer, Matty Vant begs for answers while questioning why there are wars with unnecessary deaths. “A hundred K is a-okay, it’ll all blow over, one thousand K, Iraq was Iraq, you know the USA won’t give back…” money solves all problems. There’s your answer.

In ‘Put Down Your Gun‘, another topic touched on is living in fear and how gun crimes are caused from fear provoked issues. Every song on this album has its own agenda but the common theme at the heart of it all is that we’re all human, we shouldn’t be divided, we should be united and this is a message that is driven well across the record, especially in Peace & Love with a very poetic line in particular; “Love, how do you stand so tall? Y’know, our love is all… hope, how do you stand so tall, y’know, our love is all…“.

There are a few stand out moments specifically that’ll make you really stop and think, especially the twenty-somethings that will listen to this album. The first comes in Lampoon, striking a chord on the issues Millenials face, where they’re typecast with a mindset that everything is fun and they have no cares but when they have to make a decision, it’s difficult to settle upon it cos of the consequences if it goes wrong, which Matty describes well in the chorus; “everything is wrong with this generation… which will you choose?” Kind of makes you think if you’re part of said generation, if you really are fucked, while the generations above reassure us that it’s our fault.

‘Parking Lot‘ exploded on the scene late in 2015 and was a taste of what to expect from Vant. Straight to the point on rape culture, it’s not a crime if no one’s there to see it, surely? It’s a case of if you see something say something and the disgusting mindset of an attacker; “no one heard, no one saw, I did nothing wrong, nothing wrong, I really wish I did something… wait a minute cos your heart’s not in it…”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5wSb8UWig4&w=560&h=315]

It’s hard hitting but it drives the point home in another stand out moment on Dumb Blood.

As mentioned, every song packs a message of its own and half way through, we already hear about war, lack of compassion and rape culture. They don’t miss a beat with depression and loneliness in ‘Do You Know Me‘ but what the highlight on the record for JACKS is ‘I Don’t Believe In God‘ and the stunning lyrics of the heart-wrenching things people do just to feel a sense of belonging; “Some people fuck, some people shoot guns, some people shoot up, just to feel something, some people die just to end up with nothing, some people do cocaine just to provoke a feeling…”

No trust or faith and how can you have any when we live in this grim world that Matty paints this picture of? Although we say we don’t believe in faith, we’ll still look up and pray in times of need. It’s a song made for those sunset slots at festivals when Vant gets to that line “I look to the stars, cos I don’t believe in god…” and the song just bursts with more emotion as it explodes and after another emphatic chorus, it draws to a close.

This record is full of thought-provoking songs and it’s a debut to remember as Vant put themselves forward as an early contender for album of the year. What seals this is the angsty and intense ‘Karma Seeker‘, towards the end of the album.

Having a lot of hatred towards someone or something and doing nothing but focusing on righting that wrong can blind you to the bigger picture of what’s going on around you. “I used to fear the one you loved, I used to see him up above but now he’s gone…”

They let us know they’re not happy with the direction the world is heading in through powerful lyrics, strong melodies and overall, gripping and exciting songs.

The long awaited debut album was well worth the wait and Matty and co. have delivered with hard-hitting tracks, even on the low key songs, they hit just as hard with the message they intended to deliver.

Songs worth putting on repeat: Lampoon, Parking Lot, I Don’t Believe In God, Karma Seeker

Verdict: 8/10

Dumb Blood, the debut album from Vant is out now.