• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Vinyl Chapters

Vinyl Chapters

The Stories Behind The Music

  • Home
  • About
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • News
  • Submit
  • Shop
  • Contact
  • Cart
Home » articles » The Rightly So: Vandura – Review

The Rightly So: Vandura – Review

September 20, 2019 by Jamie Parmenter

The Rightly So

Buffalo, NY-based duo The Rightly So share the highs and lows of life on the road in new record Vandura, creating an honest and persevering folk-laden journey.

The Rightly So have been very busy. Duo Jess Chizuk and Greg Zeis have been touring relentlessly and living on the road for the last year and a half out of a homemade RV, taking in all the sights and sounds of their home country. Their new record Vandura highlights all the ups and downs of life on the road, bringing into focus a collection of stories and adventures the duo experienced amongst light and airy folk/Americana.

Black and Blue starts off the record with a gentle country rhythm, steady guitar and Greg Zeis’s vocals sounding like a wandering troubadour as he sings of love complications and bruised egos: “You know all I want to do is to make things right by you but after all this time, still learning how.” Jess Chizuk joins in for the chorus before her more subtle and sultry vocals take up the next verse and her side of the love story. This back and forth works well and sets up for a strong opener.

The Rightly So - Vandura

You Can Bet On Me cranks things up a notch with a heavier guitar and drum beat against more energetic melodies and harder-edged lyrics, whereas Ball and Chain takes on a more 70s rock ballad vibe with a rattling chorus and pleasant Hammond Organ tying everything together. Jess does well to drive the track forward with the sound growing throughout and the cherry on the top being a divine guitar solo.

What’s great about Vandura is the duo don’t just look at the fun side of life on the road – they take in the hard and monotonous traits as well.  Tracks like Dying Day really deliver a slice of laid-back nostalgia where you can almost see the empty rolling road and feel the gentle breeze on your face whereas Good Luck and Godspeed or Nothing But The Weather draw on ideas of the boredom and questioning yourself that comes with being stuck in a small space and a fractured lifestyle: “I’m looking for Eden but I can’t find a reason for leaving this behind”. The record then ends with Not Coming Home which sees the duo come to the conclusion that they love their current nomadic life and wouldn’t change it for the world

Vandura almost feels like therapy for the band, as they contemplate everything they’ve experienced, weigh out the good and the bad, before realising how much they love what they do. You can almost taste the open road at times as the imagery sets in, with both Jess and Greg’s vocals working well on their own or during the instances where they harmonise. The record is a pleasure to listen to with its strong melodies and structures making it impossible not to let the Americana/folk sound overtake you.

Score: 4/5

By Jamie Parmenter

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Review Tagged With: Folk/Americana, The Rightly So, Vandura, You Can Bet On Me

About Jamie Parmenter

Editor and Founder of Vinyl Chapters.
Always bothering people to tell a story about a record in their vinyl collection.

Reader Interactions

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Search

Subscribe

Subscribe to our Newsletter

* indicates required

Recent Posts

Charlie Puth

Charlie Puth: Charlie – Review

Calvin Harris

Calvin Harris: Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2 – Review

JP Hoe

New Music Fridays – 5th August 2022

Footer

Navigation

Home

About

Reviews

Features

News

Submit

Contact Us

Shop

Search

Recent Posts

  • Taylor Swift: Midnights – Album Review
  • Charlie Puth: Charlie – Review
  • Calvin Harris: Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2 – Review
  • New Music Fridays – 5th August 2022
  • Hayley Kiyoko: Panorama – Review

Social Media

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Affiliate Disclosure

Vinyl Chapters is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. In doing so, this helps us continue providing free content. It does not increase the price for you in any way.

Copyright © 2023 Vinyl Chapters | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Editorial Team