Viva Ole

14 Songs | MR018 | Release Date 2006 If it’s anachronistic to be playing quality, moody rock in the year 2006, then consider the Contingencies guilty as charged. The 14 songs featured on the band’s debut, Viva Ole, shift and bend – but never break – under the album’s gritty tension. Little Rock scene stalwarts for the past several years, The Contingencies, clearly took their time with Viva Ole. The guitars clang off of each other in ways that would make fans of early records by Come, or even at times, Let’s Active take real notice. Singer Dan Johnson goes from a clear, high croon to eager agitation with subtlety and ease. And while that might keep them in the margins for the short term, we’re counting that the genuineness of the music won’t allow them to stay there for long.