Versus
Ex Voto
(Earnest Jennings Record Co.)
When I first happened upon New York
City’s Versus demo tape in early
1992, I immediately loved it and wrote about it in the old photocopied ‘zine
days of This Wreckage. At 21, and with a pretty limited lexicon of
music history, I said this about them:
“The dual vocals of guitarist Richard Baluyut and Fontaine Toups, along with the bouncy
drums of Rob Hale give you an
inkling of the best early X songs –
with a little of the gentle Go-Betweens
thrown in.”
Not sure I would use the same
description/comparison if running across them now, but I cannot really argue
with it either. It was that same year,
most of the songs from this demo started popping up on 7” singles and
compilations on indie labels around the country, and thus began my
collection. I’ve been a devoted fan ever
since and have followed most of the band members’ other musical projects over
the years (The Fontaine Toups, The Pacific Ocean, +/-, and Whysall Lane),
including legendary NYC band, Flower,
the band that Richard and Rob were fresh out of back when this demo appeared (Ex Voto was recorded by Flower’s Ian James). The thing is, I’m not sure they’d ever made a
great album! Versus have a plethora of
incredible songs, but, in my opinion, the albums were always a bit spotty.
Surprise, surprise, then that they
reappeared this past May with an EP, Ex
Nihilo, that is truly inspired, and now nine years after their last LP,
comes their best full album, Ex Voto!
This collection is captivating from
start to finish. Versus sound
re-vitalized and more energetic than ever.
“Gravity” and “Moon Palace” the one - two punch of the openers set an
exciting mood with catchy melodies, lithe playing, and some existential
lyrics. “Gravity” finds Richard asking
his significant other “Does the story end the way you want it to?” and “What is
left behind when the spirit’s gone?” It
seems as though he is ready to move on, but not sure how to end the dead end
relationship (“I can’t seem to say, I no longer love you”). There is also a feeling of overcoming the
mundanities and trials of everyday life and love and finding solace with
oneself. In this case, it almost feels
like this new start is from some sort of apocalyptic event, and our narrator is
finding strength and courage to find hope by letting go of the past (“I don’t
know where I’m going / I don’t know and I don’t care”). Next up is the mid-tempo floater, “University”
(which includes the great lyric: “paradise lost but we are alive”) eases us
into the busy “Mummified,” whose long intro includes excerpts of some kind of
movie dialogue, that I can’t quite make out or place, but reminding me of
second and third album Jawbreaker. Once we get to the song, we see every member
of the band featured beautifully with slashing guitar work, and crashing drum work
from the other two Baluyut brothers: James
and Edward, while Richard and Fontaine
trade off verses vocally and share the sing-along chorus.
Side two opens with the interesting “Baby
Green,” which opens with a plastic sounding drum machine pattern and a New Order-esque bass fill. The song actually reminds me of New Order’s “Every
Little Counts” in feel, but this is much more complex, and interesting and
fully fleshed out. The blunt sounding “Atmosphere”
comes on full tilt next, as Fontaine urgently asks “Have you ever felt that way
before? / Have you ever felt a weight you can’t ignore?” “Atmosphere” bleeds nicely into the orchestral
pop song “Nothing But U,” which is a nice brief reprieve from all of the
intensity up to this point. The epic “Re-Animator”
closes things out perfectly with an explosive final half.
This album, along with the EP from
earlier this year, have been quite a surprise!
A welcome return to a band achieving new heights after such a long
absence. This kind of thing gives me
hope that maybe one day I too can get better at something. Maybe.
Don’t hold your breathe. Instead,
go out and buy this record!
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