Viva Voce

Marriage is all about communication, compromise, and . . . psychedelic indie rock. At least it is for Kevin and Anita Robinson, otherwise known as Viva Voce, who have popped out four albums of the stuff since 1998. The Portland, Oregon, couple's latest, Get Yr Blood Sucked Out, channels marital...

By Nate Seltenrich

September 28, 2006

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Marriage is all about communication, compromise, and . . . psychedelic indie rock. At least it is for Kevin and Anita Robinson, otherwise known as Viva Voce, who have popped out four albums of the stuff since 1998. The Portland, Oregon, couple's latest, Get Yr Blood Sucked Out, channels marital bliss through toothsome vocal harmonies, fuzzed-out guitar solos, and just enough tambourine. Imagine wedding the rootsy, trippy Dandy Warhols to the spacy, even trippier Secret Machines: hardly a capricious union, but opposites don't always attract. And Viva Voce embraces its often-predictable sound without a hint of irony. "We do not fuck around," announces the album's obligatory midpoint psych-rock statement. No shit. Both for better and for worse, Get Yr Blood Sucked Out can be read with one eye shut, whether listening to an upbeat, danceable ditty like "Believer" (the album's leadoff track), or the feedback-drenched folk of "Faster Than a Dead Horse." All it takes is a little love and a little pot (plenty of both will do just fine, mind you). The Robinsons champion neither subtlety nor novelty, but let's face it — for every Radiohead, we surely need a Viva Voce.

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