Damn those Vandals. Perusing the internet for some background information on the band is a thankless affair. No biography as far as I can venture...a deliberate ploy perhaps? Are they playing the mystery card in an attempt to appear elusive and carefree? As if they do not give a damn? Well if so, fair play to them. With very little to go on, I shall concentrate purely on the music and images derived from their various accounts on popular websites owned by bloated, exploitative corporations. The Damn Vandals EP "Beautiful Mind" comprises of four tracks; the sound and musicality that manifests from the solar plexus of this EP reside in a conglomeration of influences from the past. The guitars saturate the stereo landscape to form a liquid wall of resonance. All tracks bear the hallmark of the thick chime of distorted guitars that are drenched in reverb, a sound so beloved of the trendier 80's indie bands.

These Vandals are a more hip and dangerous younger brother of Echo and the Bunnymen, a younger brother who has gone out on the lash with The Jesus and Mary Chain, and awakens then the next morning experiencing a bout of intoxicated ontological comprehension as he ponders the meaningless of it all. Track one "Beautiful Mind" is the highlight of this EP. It's a swaggering declaration of intent; vocalist Jack Kansas spits out Morrison-esque questions such as "How does it feel to be the red blooded son of the earth." These queries are then punctured with a frequently recurring chorus/refrain of an uproarious nature that is pleasantly corrupted by a decadent slide guitar. It's a song that personifies chic retro sleaze wrapped in rock'n'roll grandeur and is in possession of a persistent chorus that one can never grow tired of.

Track two "He Pulls A Knife" returns these Damn Vandals into an urban wasteland of no hope, as conjured up by the scant publicity photos of the band available onine. A domain where drug-fuelled kids attempt to carve chunks of flesh out of one another with knives, an act that results in Jack Kansas beseeching them to "Cool it down". It's a good song, with memorable hooks. It does not possess the vital, glamorous swagger of "Beautiful Mind", yet it's still strong and melodious and keeps within the stylistic theme that the band is obviously cultivating.

"Union Jack Boxes" & "Trouble With Jesus" both wilt in the shadow cast by both "Beautiful Mind" and "He Pulls A Knife". Although lyrically they hold together well, melodically they sound derivative in comparison and lack ingenuity and sparkle. Yet if this E.P. is indeed an extended play release purely to promote the single "Beautiful Mind", it can only be seen as a success which extracts the fruits of the past to help illuminate the future. And with a presently dark musical landscape we need all the light we can get.