Premiere: The Vim Dicta, ‘Point Blank’

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There may be no rock ’n’ roll configuration more exhausted creatively than the power trio. Belters and shredders come and go, substituting bombast for vitality and technical showmanship for true musical dialogue. Which brings me to young L.A. trio the Vim Dicta, who have succumbed to none of the perils of cliché. The band – singer-bassist Cori Elliot, guitarist Matt Tunney and drummer Chris “Fuse” Infusino – has been cultivating a raw take on garage-blues they call “psycho groove,” having spent the past couple of months gigging in New York as part of a get-out-of-L.A.-for-awhile campaign. When they return home next month, it will be with a new single in tow. “Point Blank,” recorded in April sans overdubs with engineers Shelly Yakus (John Lennon, Tom Petty) and Niko Bolas (Neil Young, Fiona Apple) at Sunset Sound, seems informed as much by the cacophonous ’90s as history’s dirty blues. At 20, Tunney plays like he communes with rock’s gods, not apes them, and Elliot, 21, sings and plays with a visceral fury all her own. So nice to see a young band opening a vein, especially when it’s their own.

||| Stream: “Point Blank”