Since establishing their own record label in 2009, Danish alternative rock trio Vinyl Floor have slowly been making their way to the big bands. Their 2012-released second LP Peninsula almost brought them Grammy nominations, and the first single off the soon-to-be-released follow up, ‘Change The Song’, snatched an Akademia award for best alternative music video.

The above-mentioned track is also the opener of their upcoming album, Vaudeville, and it is an absolutely catchy upbeat rock start that, ironically, inevitably leads to compulsive hitting of the ‘repeat’ button. Next come ‘Shift’, which threads on the line between alternative and hard rock, and second single ‘Time Your Life’, wonderfully topped with violin sections, written by the band themselves and performed by the girls of The Vindla String Quartet from Sweden.

The songs that follows feature quite an enjoyable mix of styles, from the vocal harmonies of soft rock numbers ‘Angel of Crime’, ‘Just A Shadow’ and ‘Fallen Leaves’, to the raw production of the edgier ‘Sensational Freedom Country Estate’. Songs to pay special attention to include ‘Castles’, where Thomas Pedersen’s vocals and the use of acoustic guitars create a distinctive Nordic folk sound; ‘Colorblind’, with its dark, haunting atmosphere; and the theatrical ‘Basket Of Kisses’ and ‘The Abyss’, the latter being my personal favourite, as it sings directly to the always hungry for adventures child in me who grew up on pirate tales such as Treasure Island.

On their third outing, Vaudeville, Vinyl Floor have amply experimented with a variety of instruments to produce a refreshingly versatile sound. That being said, the album does have its faults: at times the tempo is a bit plodding and the songs start to sound similar. With this record, however, the band show that they do hold potential; and if they continue to evolve then who knows, they may even be the next Kashmir.

Vaudeville will be out on 6th October on CD/vinyl via Karmanian Records, and will be available for download from the the band’s official website www.vinylfloorband.com with a “pay what you want” option.