Vaughanstrosity // Memes and Dreams // EP Review

So firstly, let’s get the admin out of the way. Vaughanstrosity is a solo project created by the brain of Ruaidhri Houston, who has been involved with Belfast band So Long Until The Séance.

In 2021 Houston formed Vaughanstrosity and this would appear to be where he dumps every musical influence to ever grace him and throw it into a magic mixer and see what kind of fucked up shit comes out.

This debut album features Brett Martin from Nømadus on drums and Ethan Beatie from EB and The Deadlights giving a hand on the vocals for ‘When The Party Ends’. The contributions by the pair have allowed for the full effect of what Houston has wanted to release – which he has dubbed Party Metal.

“Party Metal?” I heard you query! This would be that fucked up shit I mentioned earlier. Combining some Electronic, Euro Pop, and Dance backing to whichever style of Metal you fancy rocking out to provides this exact result. You can be grabbing your glow stick whilst also singing along to some Pop Punk, or screaming along to some full-force metal.

The next question – does it actually work? Simply put yes, and very well at that. If you ever go to a Brutal Death Metal show or just some Metal shows, you will find that intro tracks from some of the cheesiest dance tracks like Vengaboys or a little harder drum and bass, tend to go down very well. What Houston has done here is combine it all into the same song.

Whilst this EP is only 4 tracks long, it contains more different styles than your average HMV aisle and is a whole heap more fun too. The amount of content packed into this 14-minute taster is quite phenomenal and Houston needs to be given a lot of credit here. Not only has he thought about this mashup of styles but more impressive is that it is really fucking good. We’ve all had thoughts that we think are great but in reality are just wank, this however is anything but.

In a world where everything is serious and elitists find any reason to put another person or band down, say balls to that and get fully immersed in the Party Metal world created by Vaughanstrosity. Leave all your preconceptions behind, all your attitude at the door and just let go and have a great fucking time. I certainly did.

Memes and Dreams will be released Friday 27^th January 2023.

Pre-save the EP, here – https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/vaughanstrosity/memes-and-dreams

Ed Ford