Vessel, one of Atlanta’s current best, is set to release its debut LP on April 2, and the first single “Game” shows us why that’s big news both inside and outside the Perimeter. This post-punk head-bobber is exceedingly pleasant, avoiding some of the common traps of the style. It’s not too angry, it’s not too noisy, it isn’t concerned with politics that cross over into the performative or weighed down by self-important art school arrogance. It just bounces along on a tight backbone with buoyant bass and precise drumming underpinning sharp guitar jabs, a meandering keyboard solo, and drummer Alex Tuisku’s vocals. (She’s joined by Isaac Bishop on the second verse, and considering he’s already handling the keys and the saxophone, he should qualify for overtime pay.)
Oh yeah, there’s a sax on this. It’s a key part of Vessel’s sound, but here it doesn’t take the shape you might expect. You won’t hear the ear-bleeding aggression Steve Mackay brought to the Stooges, or the anxious yawps of James Chance. Bishop comes in at the 90 second mark with a smooth, melodic, fairly straight-forward solo that keeps “Game” sailing along, and then guitarist Keron Robinson starts to play off and around Bishop’s solo about 15 seconds later. The two circle each other for the final half minute of the song, and that’s the part I keep rewinding to.