VVV
Resurrection River

Under the anonymous label of the VVV project are none other than Alan Vega from Suicide, one of the icons of the '70s underground, and Mika Vainio and Ilpo Vaisanen, the Finnish duo of Pan Sonic, pioneers of '90s electronic minimalism. The trio, in their second collaboration after "Endless" from '98, releases three years after the recordings dating back to 2002, an album mainly (and obviously) characterized by the strong personality of the over-fifty American singer, here in great shape, who with his usual spoken/recited/psychotic style could make even the bases of 883 songs sound like "Suicide." On the other hand, the music of the two Scandinavians seriously risks being overshadowed or going unnoticed in the face of the charisma and strong presence of the vocalist, although it can be said that they win the match at a distance with Martin Rev of the latest Suicide work "American Supreme."

Vega is the undisputed protagonist at least 70%, thanks to his classic array of orgasms, snarls, moans, screams, proclamations, etc.; Vainio and Vainasen instead take greater credit only in the sinister and atmospheric "Life" and in "So Tired," a track that with simple synthetic punctuations and frequency play fills a truly evocative sense of emptiness for the listener. Noteworthy also is the icy synthetic hip-hop of "I Got Wheels, I Got Nails," the ambient paranoia of "It Was Her Eyes," the abrasive industrial minimalism of "Sellin' My Monkeys," and the Kraftwerk-esque "Chrome Z-Fighter 2003." More banal, however, is the dance rhythm of the title track whose base resembles "The Power" by Snap (!!) and the hip-hop-like "It’s Violence," although in both cases Vega's vocals always save the day.

In the end, nothing is offered that the three have not already done separately during their remarkable careers, but it is still a successful work thanks to their indisputable talent and class.