Around two years or so ago, Vanlustbader were one of the buzz bands – with rock ‘n roll in the ascendancy, they seemed likely to strike while the iron was hot. Then they went ‘dark’, and seemed to disappear off the face of the planet.

As it turns out, they merely disappeared overseas to hone their craft and attempt to crack the fickle UK market. As such, The People vs Vanlustbäder comes with fine backing, with the band having stitched up an overseas deal for the album to find release, as well as finally securing one locally too.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of The People vs Vanlustbäder is the inconsistency in sound – it opens with the straight-up single “Communique”, but “Here We Go Again” immediately follows with a plethora of keys in the mix. “Cuba” sounds like something Ratcat may have done over a decade ago, and “Let’s Roll Em” steals lyrically from Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues”.

Simply, Vanlustäder are quite simple – there’s little fanfare or anything overly fancy about their debut album. Derivative in places (ballad “When Good Things Go Bad” is a dead ringer for an Oasis song, which itself cops from the usual suspects) and just plain strange in others (“VLB Disco” sounds unlike anything else on the album, while “City vs Country” uses processed drums), Vanlustbäder are at their best when delivering solid rock songs like the instrumental “Radio Tokyo” and “Communique”.