The VANNS are a band that feel like they’ve always been around. In fact I can’t really remember a time where I hadn’t heard of them and I’ve been at this for a while now. Since their inception, they’ve steadily risen to become Aus indie rock royalty, with two albums now under their belt, support slots for the likes of The Kooks and The Wombats, and a very gutsy Like A Version covering Bon Iver’s Hey Ma which came in at #32 on the Hottest 100 of Like A Version’s of all time.
While I’d heard them on the radio plenty, I only managed to see The VANNS for the first time at the final Falls Festival and the crowd reaction has been burnt into my mind ever since. Favouring hooky, anthemic choruses in their music, The VANNS were a perfect fit for the Falls crowd, who packed out the tent and learnt the words to all the songs as they went along. The band themselves were a bit taken aback by the sheer influx of people as the set went on but they took it in stride.
I also remember seeing the members of the hip-hop group 1300 stopping by to watch. They weren’t really familiar with The VANNS either they were very quickly dancing and singing along as well. It was a testament to how good song writing transcends the boundaries of genre for sure.
Having finished their first run of US shows at this year’s SXSW in March, The VANNS are keeping the momentum high with their latest single Up All Night, produced by Oscar Dawson of Holy Holy. Featuring punchy guitar riffs, rock solid rhythms, and anthemic vocals, Up All Night is bound to be a crowd sing-a-long favourite when The VANNS take it out on the road.
The song starts out fairly languid but this all changes the moment the roaring first chorus starts:
“And it’s all so repetitious
It’s got me on my knees
Like I’m religious
I tried to find God
But he wasn’t at the bar
I guess no one’s gonna save me now”
I understood what those lyrics meant from the moment I heard them and it was relatable lyricism like this that pulled me right into the track and had me absolutely rinsing it for the next few days. If you’ve spent a lot of time running around in dingy dive bars and red light districts as an artist just chasing the dream like I have, you’ll learn that it’s not guaranteed to result in immediate success, and after a weekend away you’ll probably find yourself back to the grind once Monday rolls around.
The VANNS themselves explained that:
“Up All Night is about feeling overwhelmed by the more sad, mundane, and monotonous aspects of life and trudging through them whilst holding onto the moments that make life great and, for lack of a better term, ‘worth it’. Trying to find the answers to life’s biggest, most salient questions and not being able to find them in the places where it seems others do.”
After the first chorus, the guitar riff crescendos rather satisfyingly before the song launches into the second verse. It’s here that you get to hear more of the bass and drum groove, which had me tapping my feet and bobbing my head to it before it’d even noticed. By the time the song launches into the second chorus, it’s sounding absolutely massive. The guitars are so crunchy and you can hear the grit in frontman Jimmy Vann’s voice as he belts out the lyrics. Speaking of his voice, the bloke has definitely got the gift, he can cover INXS and make it sound like his own song.
During the second chorus, “I tried to find God, but he wasn’t at the bar” becomes “I tried to find God, but he OD’d in the car” which made me pause the song to cackle at it. You get a bit of a quieter bridge after that, almost lulling you into thinking the song is over, and then suddenly it’s LOUD again as the song flies into the outro, leaving listeners with “Got a feeling I’ll be up all night” in their ears as it gradually fades out.
At just over three and a half minutes long, the song doesn’t overstay its welcome while still delivering plenty of punch. As a first taste of more to come, Up All Night makes me doubly keen to see what the band has in store for the rest of 2025.
Give the song a listen below and let us know your thoughts!
