Vices Inc is a female fronted Pop Punk/Alternative Rock band that formed in 2019 based out of Portland, Maine USA. Influenced by the 2000's Punk Rock, Emo, and Metal scene, Vices Inc takes those influences, make it their own, with a modern twist. Since releasing their first single in December 2019, they now have released two more additional singles, an E.P., and a full length album all in 2020. 'An Everyday Hero' the debut album was released on December 31st 2020 off of Southie Heights Records.
This is a 16-track album which from start to finish will take you be surprise - and it will have you laughing, dancing and crying in equal measures. Opening track draws you in with a bang, raucous guitar and rich backing vocals. You can instantly tell this is going to be an insatiably catchy album. Second track ‘An Everyday Hero’, the title of the album itself, is a beautiful punk-rock ballad, about the quotidian superhero. We really hear how powerful the lead vocal is in this track. This is a band who mesh together genres too; ’Arcade Love’ has a hint of synthpop in there, with an 80s-inspired synth lead before erupting into punk-pop. We hear acoustic guitar in ‘Don’t Say Goodbye’, brining a singer-songwriter style to the table, and more of a country-folk feel.
Track 7 is full of attitude and reminds us of the band Paramore - ‘Far from Typical’ is a celebration of being different and refusing to stick to the ‘norm’. There’s more of a heavy feel with track 8, with menacing male backing vocals in a screamo style, and it will certainly please you metalheads out there. What’s so infectious about this album is it’s versatility, in terms of genre, themes and instrumentation. Vices Inc are also unafraid of experimentation, as can be heard in the eerie ‘The Lessons in Regret’ which keeps us in suspense throughout a very drawn-out minimal introduction featuring field recordings and sparse drums only. Track 13 is equally as kooky with a distorted child’s voice singing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’; it’s haunting and sweet all at the same time, and you’ll have to give it a listen to truly appreciate it. The penultimate track features FM radio samples; again something of the kooky added! Within final track ‘Cause I’, the child’s voice is back and the album comes full circle. The sleek production of the tracks bring it all together and there’s clearly a great knowledge of songwriting and musicality at the core of this band and their album. They are pushing the boundaries and daring to be themselves. As they say on their Facebook bio: ‘Be who you want to be’.