Viva City: Have You Ever Felt So Messed Up?

haveyoueverfeltsomessedupViva City: Have You Ever Felt So Messed Up?
Straight from the good old UK come Viva City to crush the shows with their electro-Indie rock. They’re a bit of The Killers meet The Cure. March 22nd they released their single “Have You Ever Felt So Messed Up?”. The single includes a second song, “C-4”, and a remix of “Have You Ever Felt So Messed Up?” by Kosheen DJ’s.
The single is a danceable rock song infused with dance beats. Its certainly got enough to make anyone move. The focus lyrically is on the lines “Have you ever felt so messed up you feel like you can’t move? Well, its about time you tried”. What more can be said. Hidden in the groove march of this song is a message about getting yourself out of whatever funk you’re in. And I guess they recommend dancing your way out of it.
“C-4” continues to display Viva City’s powerful electro-rock. It may even be better than “Have You Ever”, particularly because this song is about fun. It doesn’t appear to hide any serious undertones, rather becomes a soundtrack to get people up and moving.
The remix of “Have You Ever” performed by the Kosheen DJ’s is a bit of a sore spot. Its not that the remix is awful, it just doesn’t compare very well to the original track. It carries that Benny Benassi feel which is all right for original tracks, but wears on me when it comes to remixes. Also, it seems to distort the original message of the song. The vocals are slowed and distorted and stop at “Have you ever felt so messed up you feel like you can’t move?”. It stops there, creating this drug induced memory of someone having a sort of unnecessary epiphany.
The video for “Have You Ever” is action packed. It starts out with a bit of a buxom blonde getting ready to go. It then shifts to high speed shots down the streets of the city. From there it moves around showing Viva City performing at a club and the band members in various spots around the club. The blonde eventually begins stripping, and then whatever message the video was intending to make gets lost on me.
Viva City are currently touring the US, and things seem to be going well for them. Have a taste, and keep your eyes open for them.
Rating: 7.5/10
MP3: Viva City “Have You Ever Felt So Messed Up?”
Buy: iTunes

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