Viet Cong (album)

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Viet Cong
Studio album by
ReleasedJanuary 20, 2015 (2015-01-20)
Recorded2014
Studio
  • The Barn Window Studio
  • Lost Cause Studios
  • Basketball 4 Life
  • Monty's Place
Genre
Length37:04
Label
Producer
Preoccupations chronology
Cassette
(2013)
Viet Cong
(2015)
Preoccupations
(2016)

Viet Cong is the debut studio album by Canadian rock band Viet Cong. It was released on January 20, 2015, by Flemish Eye in Canada and Jagjaguwar internationally.[1][2] Viet Cong is the only album released by the band under this name, as they changed their name to Preoccupations in 2016.

The first single from the album, "Continental Shelf", was released for streaming on October 15, 2014.[3] The album also features a re-recorded version of a previous song, "Bunker Buster". The band embarked on a North American and European tour in support of the album.[4]

Production[edit]

The album was recorded during 2014 at The Barn Window Studio, Lost Cause Studios, Basketball 4 Life and Monty's Place.[5]

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.0/10[6]
Metacritic77/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Consequence of SoundB−[9]
Exclaim!9/10[10]
The Guardian[11]
Mojo[12]
NME8/10[13]
Pitchfork8.5/10[14]
Rolling Stone[15]
Spin8/10[16]
Uncut7/10[17]

Upon its release, Viet Cong received mainly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 77, based on 23 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[7] Writing for Exclaim!, Cam Lindsay noted that "Viet Cong maintains the same shadowy, droning tones that haunted Cassette, only taking them deeper into the abyss".[10]

Accolades[edit]

The album was a shortlisted nominee for the 2015 Polaris Music Prize.[18]

Publication Accolade Year Rank
NME NME's Albums of the Year 2015 2015
Stereogum The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015
Pitchfork Pitchfork Readers' Poll Top 50 Albums 2015

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleLength
1."Newspaper Spoons"3:02
2."Pointless Experience"2:59
3."March of Progress"6:19
4."Bunker Buster"5:55
5."Continental Shelf"3:20
6."Silhouettes"4:12
7."Death"11:17
Total length:37:04

Personnel[edit]

Viet Cong
  • Matt Flegel – bass guitar, vocals
  • Mike Wallace – drums
  • Scott Munro – guitar
  • Daniel Christiansen – guitar

References[edit]

  1. ^ Minsker, Evan (October 15, 2014). "Viet Cong Announce Debut LP, Share "Continental Shelf", Announce Tour". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  2. ^ Terry, Josh (October 15, 2014). "Viet Cong share new song "Continental Shelf" — listen". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  3. ^ Kelly, Zach (October 15, 2014). "Viet Cong - "Continental Shelf"". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  4. ^ Hughes, Josiah (October 15, 2014). "Viet Cong Announce Self-Titled LP". Exclaim!. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  5. ^ Viet Cong (album liner notes). Viet Cong. Flemish Eye. 2015.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ^ "Viet Cong by Viet Cong reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Reviews for Viet Cong by Viet Cong". Metacritic. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  8. ^ Deming, Mark. "Viet Cong – Viet Cong". AllMusic. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  9. ^ Corcoran, Nina (January 15, 2015). "Viet Cong – Viet Cong". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
  10. ^ a b Lindsay, Cam (January 19, 2015). "Viet Cong: Viet Cong". Exclaim!. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  11. ^ Bakare, Lanre (January 29, 2015). "Viet Cong: Viet Cong review – ambitious experimental rock, with tunes". The Guardian. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  12. ^ "Viet Cong: Viet Cong". Mojo (256): 100. March 2015.
  13. ^ Webb, Rob (January 14, 2015). "Viet Cong – 'Viet Cong'". NME. Archived from the original on May 12, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  14. ^ Cohen, Ian (January 22, 2015). "Viet Cong: Viet Cong". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  15. ^ Mejia, Paula (January 26, 2015). "Viet Cong". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  16. ^ Larson, Jeremy D. (January 20, 2015). "Review: Viet Cong Make Like the Last Post-Punks on Self-Titled Debut". Spin. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  17. ^ "Viet Cong: Viet Cong". Uncut (215): 84. February 2015.
  18. ^ "Polaris Music Prize Announces 2015 Long List". Exclaim!, June 16, 2015.
  19. ^ "NME'S Albums of the Year 2015". nme.com. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  20. ^ "The 50 Best Albums Of 2015". stereogum.com. 2015-12-01. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  21. ^ "Readers' Poll Results 2015". pitchfork.com. 2016-01-05. Archived from the original on 2016-03-01. Retrieved 2016-01-05.