One Track Mind

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

[ download ]

If you listened to college radio stations during the 1990s, you are probably already acquainted with some of Versus‘ previous work. The New York City four piece formed in 1990 and shared stages early on with acts like Unrest and Superchunk–bands who were “indie” before the term had gained its now widespread (and nearly always misapplied) usage. Over the course of a decade, Versus released five full-length records, peaking with 1996′s Secret Swingers and bowing out with their last, Hurrah, in 2000.

Since then, the band has been on the sort of indefinite “hiatus” which has become code for “broken up for good,” its members moving on to other projects including The Fontaine Toups, Whysall Lane, and most prominently, +/-. After performing a handful of shows over the past three years with different lineups, the band is now officially back on the scene. Their sixth LP, entitled On the Ones and Threes, is set for an August 3rd release via Merge Records and should introduce the band to a new generation of fans who missed them the first time around.

The topography of the music world–especially the indie music world–has been altered drastically since Versus released Hurrah a decade ago, especially thanks to online distribution and the hype machine of the blogosphere. Fans who have been turned onto acts like The New Pornographers and Spoon in the years since Versus’ prime will find it easy to love songs like “Invincible Hero,” the lead track from the new LP.

It begins quietly, with the jangle of electric guitars and the tandem of Richard Baluyut and Margaret White sounding a little bit like Low’s Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker. This tranquil setup doesn’t last long, though, and the band soon comes crashing in behind a wall of distorted guitars. “Invincible Hero” is a sinewy affair, premised on punchy drums and driving bass lines, but also feels more layered than some of the band’s earlier work with synthesizers and strings employed judiciously throughout. The song has a tremendous build up, which pays off three-quarters of the way through in a perfect, sonically dense passage. For a band coming off a ten year hiatus, one of the largest challenges they face is asserting their relevance. Versus accomplish just that, not only proving that they are still a band that matters, but showing that they sound as excellent as they ever have.