Vs. Galore

Recorded:December 2014 - January 2015
Released:April 20th, 2015
Album length:40:55
Label:Triangular Sounds

Vs. Galore is Chick Quest's debut album, released in early 2015 to glowing reviews. It is a unique mashup of post-punk, garage rock, and 60's Western soundtracks from the likes of Ennio Morricone. While on the surface Vs. Galore seemed to blend arbitrary, incompatible genres of music, critics were extremely impressed with the album's cohesive flow and distinctive sound.

Download on Bandcamp

In addition to Bandcamp, you can also find Vs. Galore on these sites:

Spotify,Apple Music,iTunes,Tidal,Google Play,Amazon

Track Listing & Lyrics

  1. Somebody Call a Doctor

    The words on your tongue make a heartbeat run amok
    and every single night I'm fighting from inside a shadow
    that’s moving like a ghost down in between your walls and alleys
    and tapering at the end the moment's gone gone gone.

    You're angry because this isn't what you want.
    The boring city people are a haunt.
    How many more lives have you got?
    I can't say I know.

    A bitter stream of thoughts are pouring out like leaky memories
    in undulating hemorrhages of friendship miscarriages
    or a giant big hand from the closet of the damned
    that pulls you back pulls you back into a bad dream.

  2. Girl on Fire

    Girl on fire make my heart skip beats just like a stone
    Girl on fire make my heart skip beats just like a stone
    Obedient to chaos scared to pieces at the thought of left alone
    Girl on fire like an old friend that's lost and gone for good
    Girl on fire like a fantasy that's lost and gone for good

    Girl made of metal, made of makeup, made of norms
    Slip out the back door (somehow), girl confused and tangled like a storm
    You see it now, you see it now, and then it's gone for good
    You see her now, you see her now, and then she's gone for good
    But the look, the feel— the girl was never really there at all.

  3. Vengeance is Fun

    Our heroine on the brink of revenge
    The dust in her brow, landscape in her eyes
    I’m not your toy, don't throw me around
    Hand on her hips, still as the sun, menace stares at his gun

    Bang bang bang not bad for a slut
    Bang bang bang it's that time of the month
    Bang bang bang girl keep your head up
    Dance fucker dance because enough is enough

    The man is a cat wearing blacker than black
    Insidious words that are wearing a hat
    Under your thumb, stuck in a trap
    Bird's eye view, establishing shot, hand on her hips, the men are shocked

  4. Sounds Like Bruce!

  5. I'm Tired of Pretty Girls

    I'm tired of pretty girls around my man.
    Pulling out her hair like I'm pulling up the weeds.
    Wedding ring or not, wedding ring or not.
    Let this be a warning to you all.

    I'm tired of pretty girls around my man.
    Don't think I don't know what you all are doing.
    Another glass of wine, another glass of wine.
    Don't think I don't know what you all are doing.
    Your subtlety is rank, you pretentious little skanks
    Let this be a lesson to you all.

    I'm tired of pretty girls around my man.
    Ich hab genug von schönen Mädls um meinen Mann.

  6. Schatzi

    Ich hab ein Mädl dem man gut gefallen kann.
    Ich kenn ein Mädl das man gut necken kann.
    Ich kenn ein Mädl das man gut lecken kann.
    Ich kenn ein Mädl das man gut schmecken kann.
    Ich kenn ein Mädl das man frühstücken kann.
    Ich kenn ein Mädl das man gut verstecken kann.
    Ich kenn ein Mädl das man gut bekleckern kann.

    Das ist nicht möglich!
    Du musst ein Ausländer sein!

    Warum siehst du so gelangweilt aus?
    Sicherheit schläft sanft dort zuhaus.

  7. Explain Yourself to a Bat

    It's like a talking bat
    An ominous sensation
    Voices in the night
    That bring me information
    It's like a talking bat

    Stare into its eyes and see exactly what is lurking in your soul.

    It’s like an angry brick
    Flying through the air
    From the corner of your eye
    Puts the windshield in your hair
    It’s like a talking bat

    Stare into these eyes girl
    Tell us what you see
    Take a good hard look, girl
    Tell us what you see
    It's like a talking bat

    It's a little like a bomb
    A feeling in your chest
    A wild pack of dogs
    Driving the U6
    It's exactly like a bomb

    Stare into its eyes and see exactly what is lurking in your soul.

  8. Fashion Fascist

    Tight pants, cigarette hands, fashion faux show, contrapposto.
    I’ve got a million dollar magazine mind from Milano.
    I’ve got a million dollar magazine mind from Milano.

    I want wanton walking under a face like a bulldozer that won’t stop talking.
    I want to tell you something important but I really know nothing.
    I want to tell you something interesting but I think you’re boring.

    That bitch she stole my look.
    I worked to bring it back.
    I followed what I saw
    But I don’t look like the ad.
    Beauty is a deity I never can seem to please.

    Gimme your sex!
    Gimme your sex!
    No sign of sex despite the slutty dress, why not?
    I put the makeup on but my new identity is still shirking.
    I’m going through the motions but the magic is not working.

    Wear those clothes, break your back, give me looks.
    Bite your tongue, buy new face, all better now.
    Bin ich Frau? Bin ich Tier? Bin ich Biest?

    Diese Heels steckten mich in eine Box, aber ich glaube, dass ich es so mag.
    I'm having such a moment need to photograph myself on the sidewalk.
    I'm serious and I’m candid because it's life and I think my life’s a catwalk.

  9. Monkey No Dance For No One

  10. You Have a Future in Television

    Television says to be quiet and to wait wait wait
    Television says I'll be lonely if I do it my way
    Trying new things
    Wear the new clothes
    Sending signs, fireworks,
    Everything but bomb threats
    Heart bleeds so wet might need a tourniquet
    How is it possible he never ever gets it??

    Television says I'm not her and I'm probably to blame
    I don't wanna be alone so better play along with the game
    Dance with other girls
    Puts me in the grave
    Black eyes, true love
    I could be his number one
    Build myself up just to be let down
    Go to the mirror cry cry cry cry now
    Television says I'm not her and I'm probably to blame

    I want for you to ask me to dance
    I want for you to ask me to dance
    It kills to watch and sit on my hands
    I want for you to ask me to dance
    I wore this dress for you and you haven't noticed me
    I wore this dress for you and you haven't noticed me
    Something must be wrong
    Something must be wrong
    Something must be wrong
    Wrong wrong wrong wrong

  11. Go Back to ze Dezert

Recording Credits

Produced by Ryan White.

Recorded at Listencareful Studios in mid December of 2014. Additional recording took place at Fraurauh Studios and Stark White Studios over December 2014 and January 2015. Mixed and mastered by Alexander Lausch at Listencareful Studios in February 2015. All recording, mixing, and mastering took place in sunny Vienna, Austria.

All words and music written by Ryan Stark White (BMI).
Album photography and design by Ryan White.

Chick Quest are:
Ryan White: vocals, guitars, Rhodes piano, organ, programming and effects
Iris Rauh: drums
Magdalena Kraev: bass

Additional help:
Christian Sonderegger: trumpet

Special Thanks to:
Alexander Lausch, C.K. Koch, Christian Sonderegger (for saving the day), everybody at Wiener Handwerk (especially Markus Tozzer and Marc Jarabe), Christoph Berndl, Simone Sgaga, Thekla Kaischauri, Julia Boyle, and Robin "Technotronic" Jessup.

More information can be found at www.chickquest.com.

Extra loving support for www.listencareful.com and www.wienerhandwerk.com.

Reviews of Vs. Galore

  • Why Chick Quest flew under my radar for this long is beyond me. With their debut album released just this year, they’re new. By combining post-punk and classic western film sounds, they’re sick. And oh man, do they have a knack for music. This band feels like Devotchka’s gypsy-punk meets The Rapture’s revivalist dance-punk. Their self-released debut is called Vs. Galore and it moves from chaos to order with something close to elegance — which is exactly what you’d want.

    - NewSickMusic (US)
  • Over the last few years, bands like Parquet Courts, Nude Beach, King Tuff, and FIDLAR have revived that [original punk] energy and spirit in ways I never got to hear growing up and it has been glorious. With their new self-released debut, Vs. Galore, Vienna’s Chick Quest have joined that group and added another ‘album of the year’ candidate to top of the pile.

    - The Big Take-Over (US)
  • Mixing jittery beats and desert surf-rock with American ex-pat Ryan White’s desperate, crime flick lyricism, the album is beach party movie music for post-punk fans.

    - CMJ (US)
  • Writing a review of the band’s debut album Vs. Galore was really hard. I kept finding myself hitting the laptop keys with one finger, not so much typing words as keeping beat with the tracks. And that was only when I could actually stop myself from flailing my arms with abandon while bouncing my head and tapping my feet to the wicked bass lines and snappy percussion. I can’t remember the last time an album made me want to so badly say, 'The hell with writing a review, I just want to dance to this!'

    - Fourculture (US,UK,CA)
  • This is an outstanding album that is so far removed from the mainstream that it has cult classic written all over it.

    - Unsigned & Independent (IE)
  • Vs Galore has immediately made Chick Quest one of the bands I am in urgent need of seeing live. I think, and this is just going by the record, that they are a band that HAVE to be seen live in order to really get their sound. They have this Gogol Bordello feel to their sound, meaning they sound like excited kids who are bouncing around after having too much lemonade. It’s absolutely brilliant and it needs to be played so loud.

    - Gypsy Death And You (UK)
  • Apparently, Vienna didn’t have any clubs playing music that [the band] wanted to dance to. I might add that most clubs don’t play music that Chick Quest have come up with, whether in Austria or Australia. I mean, this is a band who said that there wasn’t enough Spaghetti Western indie rock in the world and set out to rectify that very problem.

    There’s a fun blend of styles, not just from song to song but within them.

    - Semplesize (AU)
  • Not to rely on other bands’ sounds, the brass breakdown sets it apart from being just another similar sounding knock off like so many bands settle for. With just the right amount of rock reference and creative spin, Chick Quest do an excellent job of standing out in a natural, unforced way.

    - Peter Getty Music (US)

All other reviews


Let us know if you're interested in viewing our press kit.

Contact us

More Music

Check out our2nd album Model View Controller, released in2017!

Model View Controller