After about one full year of suffering and sacrifice, during which Vaux had to change record label, getting the rights for their own songs back, and find a new home, I am quite sure that with the release of the new album “Beyond Virtue, Beyond Vice” on August 1st, the Denver based band will gain some joy. But let’s leave the past behind. Vaux is back in full action. The new album, which had to come out for major label Lava/Atlantic, was recorded in England with Garrett “Jacknife” Lee (U2, Snow Patrol) in the same manor where The Smiths and Radiohead laid down classic tracks. And Vaux changed a little bit too: while on their past album “There Must Be Some Way To Stop Them”, the band sounded loaded, strong and with a post hardcore attitude, on the new release, the sixest is able to stress Quentin Smith’s vocals at their finest, with the ability to create unique atmospheres, fusing pop elements and dark guitar riffs. Songs like “Identity Theft” and “Cocaine James” have got the intensity of hardcore in their choruses, while “Need To Get By” and “The Last Report From…” have got those sleepy moods where the dark side of Vaux take its best. The disc also has a lot of electronic experimentation ( as on the track “The Rope, The Pistol, The Candlestick”), but the band is always able to create catchy pop as on the album’s first single, “Are You With Me”, which is so addictive it may hurts. “Beyond Virtue, Beyond Vice” is a disc made for every music lover, where you will find soft melodies as well as intricate hardcore guitar riffs, from Radiohead’s passion for intimate harmonies, to At The Drive-In’s fury and energy. I hope this disc won’t be ignored by the masses, because it is a real rock masterpiece everyone should listen to.