Vanity Theft: Get What You Came For

Vanity Theft: Get What You Came For
All-female Ohio quartet, Vanity Theft wrapped touring for their debut ep, Anatomy and almost immediately released their debut full-length, Get What You Came For.
The group has drawn comparisons to the riot grrl groups of the 90s like Sleater Kinney and L7 but in my mind, besides being an all girl group with some sort of punk influence, Vanity Theft holds very little in common with these groups. Instead Vanity Theft reminds me of a mixture of riot grrrl fringe groups like Lunachicks and Le Tigre. Listening to a song like “Trainwreck” it is obvious that Vanity Theft is influenced by punk bands like Lunachicks. Their harmonies and vocals are even very similar to the vocals used by Lunachicks. But the track also has a certain dance feel to it which is what reminds me of Le Tigre.
The band’s sound is pretty enjoyable to me but their lyrics let me down on several occasions throughout Get What You Came For. A prime example is “My Cup Runneth Over”. The track begins with the stanza: “This pounding in my chest will be digested with a grain/of salt they couldn’t find while dissecting my brain/you found an avenue to course through like blood in my veins.” The inane rhyme scheme is only enhanced by the inane lyrics which betrays an otherwise catchy song.
My guess is that most people will be listening to Vanity Theft for the high energy music and not for lyrical analysis. For the most part, the quartet puts out their catchy, hook-laden music that is easy digestible but still delivered with some swag. It is important to remember this is their debut album and they will hopefully grow into better lyricists.
Rating: 6.7/10
MP3: Vanity Theft “Trainwreck”
Buy: iTunes or Amazon

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