Formed in 2018 in Lugano, VAN COUVER have spent years distilling a musical aesthetic where early 2000s New York indie rock and the British sounds of the '90s collide. While their 2023 debut, How’s The Weather?, introduced a band capable of conjuring the ghosts of Interpol and Slowdive through tight guitars and hypnotic vocals, their recent output reflects a clearer, more focused sonic identity.
In 2024, the group pushed their boundaries with the single Belong—an indie-rock track wrapped in sharp shoegaze textures—followed in August 2025 by a reimagining of the Double classic The Captain of Her Heart for national broadcaster SSR. Today, VAN COUVER stand as a solid unit, navigating the space between melodies that are simultaneously dreamy and biting, backed by a gritty, high-energy rhythm section.
With their sophomore album, Everything Will Work Out (Eventually), the band solidifies their identity across ten tracks that explore the resilience required to remain whole during the storm. It is the sound of a band that has stopped searching for an identity and simply started playing it.
If the English ’90s met the New York mid-2000s, they’d kiss, hold hands, and travel 30 years into the future. Van Couver’s second album isn’t a newborn; it’s the same child, grown up and far more aware of the world around him. The leap in composition, production, and personality alike, is remarkable compared to "How Is the Weather?", opening the door to stronger themes and atmospheres.
The band members’ various musical influences are anything but hidden in this work. First, the drums and the bass: groovier, more intricate, yet still packed with drive and energy. The lead guitar weaves shapes that somehow seem both chaotic and minimalist, melancholic yet hopeful—melodic details that create space against a raw, assertive rhythm guitar, faithful to the purest school of indie rock sound. To top it off, the vocals bring a new maturity, rounding out Van Couver’s sound like a seamless extra instrument. There is a palpable synergy at play here, a shared intuition that allows the band to consolidate their sound; no matter which creative path they take, they navigate it naturally, never once losing their core identity.
Thematically, the record is a manifesto of resilience. It’s an anthem for anyone seeking redemption from past injustices—be it toxic relationships or the sting of bullying—and finding the grit to stay "cool" through the storm. There’s a defiant wisdom here: the realization that the train eventually stops for everyone, and while we find the courage to jump on, those who caused the pain remain stagnant. This grit extends to internal conflicts too; a candid admission of one’s own struggles coupled with the liberating truth that even those with "perfect" lives are fighting their own demons. It’s a middle finger to the insecurities bred by suffocating social circles and narrow-minded cities, a roar of self-worth against a world that tries to diminish you.
The self-production is a triumph in its own right. In an era of clinical, cookie-cutter sounds, Van Couver has crafted a record that breathes, reminding us that creative vision will always trump technical firepower. Ten tracks to play on repeat—songs that will make you angry, make you cry, make you run, and make you hope that, in the end, everything will work out… eventually.
If Liam Gallagher had smoked fewer cigarettes. If Pavement had been English. If Swervedriver had been less heavy. If The Jesus and Mary Chain had been less gloomy. If all of this had happened and come together in one great creative flow, two bands would have been born: Lotus Plaza and VAN COUVER. And in a parallel and surreal reality like Italian Switzerland, fortunately, all of this was possible.
In a time where only rap seems to bring satisfaction, a nine-song album puts you back in the saddle of a bike, ready to crash with a smile because you're in your 30s and have consciously decided not to become an adult and relive what the best of the '80s and '90s kindly offered you, adding the freshness that only someone with a monstrous desire to play can transmit in a song. Someone who has spent nights and early mornings in a few square meters between cables, software, and various gadgets, releasing what churns in their stomach, heart, and head since they heard the first guitar note. If we are the generation stuck in our own adolescence, perhaps there is a reason. Because it was damn beautiful. If our memories smell of distorted guitars, bike rides, backpacks on one shoulder, old video games, early synthesizers, faded T-shirts, and perpetual melancholy, then we might as well give them the exceptionally updated version of all this, and among the best you can find out there is the album How's The Weather. A full, sincere sound, carefully crafted in its honestly DIY project, for atmospheres and philosophy. Favorite song: Marine.
- Chiara Fanetti, RSI
