''Dumb Blood'' is the debut studio album by

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band Vant. The album, produced by Sam Miller, was released on 17 February 2017 by

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

. A deluxe edition of the album was simultaneously released featuring tracks from the band's "''Karma Seeker''" EP, B-sides and previously un-released songs.

Background

Vant formed in London in 2014. The band met in a Death Metal Club in London where they had moved to pursue music. The band took heavy influence from global issues such as "equality, education and the environment". Front man Mattie aimed to make music with messages behind them feeling that it was lost in Rock music and something only found in Hip-Hop. He cites

The Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

Nina Simone Nina Simone ( ; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and po ...

M.I.A. Mia, Mía, MIA, or M.I.A. may refer to: Music Artists * M.I.A. (rapper) (born 1975), English rapper and singer * M.I.A. (American band), 1980s punk rock band from Orange County, California * MIA. (German band), a German rock/pop band formed in ...

and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

as artists who inspired him cause they stood for what they believed in. The band self-released their debut single, the double A side, "Parasite/Do You Know Me?" on 22 April 2015. Shortly after its release the band signed to

Parlophone Records Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

and received extensive airplay from

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

XFM Radio X is a British national commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. The station launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station named Q102, before being renamed Xfm in 1992. The station b ...

and

Amazing Radio Amazing Radio is an international radio station first broadcast originally on digital radio in the United Kingdom. The station plays new music from a number of music genres including pop music, pop, rock music, rock, Independent music, indie, ...

. Zane Lowe made the band his "Next Hype" and played "Parasite" 3 times in one show. Their following singles "The Answer", "Parking Lot", "Fly-By Alien", "Karma Seeker" and "Peace & Love" were all debuted on BBC Radio 1 as

Annie Mac Annie Macmanus (born 18 July 1978), known professionally as Annie Mac, is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, includ ...

's 'Hottest Record in the World'. "Dumb Blood" was announced on Annie Mac's show after the premiere of "Peace & Love" on 11 October 2016.

Critical reception

''Dumb Blood'' received mixed reviews from music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 69, based on 6 reviews.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the album's liner notes. Vant * Mattie Vant – lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards * Henry Eastman – guitar, backing vocals, bass guitar * Billy Morris – bass guitar * David 'Greenie' Green – drums and percussion.

Additional musicians

* Sam Miller – Percussion on "The Answer", "Peace & Love", "Do You Know Me?", "Headed for the Sun", "Karma Seeker", "Time & Money", "Mess Around", "Birth Certificate", "All Our Babies" and "Holy Water", keyboards on "Put Down Your Gun" and

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s on "Peace & Love", "Karma Seeker", "Time & Money", "Birth Certificate". * Martin Söderin – drums on "The Answer", "Parking Lot", "I Don't Believe in God" and "Mess Around" * Henry Bennett – drums on "Do You Know Me?", "Headed for the Sun", "Parasite" and "Birth Certificate".

Production

* Sam Miller – production and mixing * Martin Brammer – co-producer on "Do You Know Me?" and "Parasite" * Rich Costey – mixing on "The Answer" * Howie Weinberg – mastering * Gentry Studer – mastering * LANDR – mastering on "Parking Lot" * John Davis – mastering on "Do You Know Me?" and "Parasite"

Design

* Mattie Vant – art direction, design * Richard Welland – art direction, design * Steve Gullick – photography

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2017 debut albums Vant (band) albums Parlophone albums