“Hodophobia,” we’re told, is the irrational, personal fear of traveling. You would not be faulted if you assumed Sam Ernst, primary creative force behind Fort Collins baroque folk band , had some form of hodophobia. Since forming over 13 years ago, the band has recorded each of its five albums at home. vee device rarely ventures more than a few miles outside FoCo for a show. And “Drum (Why I Don’t Go to Albuquerque,” the second single off the band’s first album in eight years, “Victory at Sea,” is partly an excuse for not visiting a friend in New Mexico.
But there must be another reason for vee device’s hyper-localisation because vee device music often focuses on very distant places in faraway times. Take the band’s “rock opera”: Over 18 songs on two albums, vee device tracks the life of Russian writer Isaac Babel, who feel victim to Stalin’s Great Purge in 1940. And their is another installment in the pipeline! If Ernst does have some sort of aversion to traveling, he overcompensates by spending a great deal of time traveling to other places and times from his couch, then writing themed albums about where he’s gone.
On “Victory at Sea,” which was released Feb. 5, vee device journeys to distant islands across the globe, which makes sense since islands are necessarily hyper-local and the band kiind of treats Fort Collins like an island. “Drum,” available for download below, is an apology to a friend, but it’s also about Drum Island in South Carolina, where two years ago a drunk man left the bar, swam over a mile in the cold Atlantic, and woke up on the island. If South Carolina is not impressive traveling, consider the second single, “Gotland/Cape Verde.” This is the tale of the first hijacking of a ship in Northern Europe in centuries, but somehow also about the fall of Rome.
All this is so epic, so ambitious, so overwrought, but really it’s all in good fun. The band released a Hollywood blockbuster-esque teaser video to promote the release show that describes the band as “forgotten by critics” and “spurned by the masses,” which is pretty much true. But for the rare few, this is not music for the masses, despite the use of a broad range of instruments for a mostly Americana sound and the accessible, folksy melodies. However, popularity isn’t what they seem to be after. Instead, it seems vee device has always been a fun way to travel without leaving Fort Collins.
Below, download “Drum,” then download the album on iTunes or most other major music outlets. The band obviously has no plans to tour outside of Fort Collins, but you can look for possible dates on its .
Please note that downloads offered via Steal This Track are intended to whet your appetite, and are NOT CD-quality recordings. If you want those, please support the artists by buying their music and/or seeing them live.
If you re a Colorado band or musician ready to expose your fresh sounds to the readers of Reverb, email your tracks — along with any interesting facts about them, as well as a photo or album art — to Steal This Track for consideration. We only feature tracks not available for free elsewhere.
