From the point of their arrival in 1992, New York City’s Versus excelled as one of the decade’s stronger melodic rock units, shaped but in no way constrained by the sounds of North American indie precedent. They released an impressive series of discs on a succession of labels, and amongst the best is the ’94 full-length The Stars Are Insane.
Amidst the ‘90s indie flood Versus stood out as a reliable breath of fresh air both on recordings (of which there are quite a few) and through a steady flow of live gigs. A large part of the group’s lasting appeal rests on how they didn’t easily fit into any of the tidy indie subcategories that thrived during the period.
Like some of the most rewarding convulsions in ‘90s indie, Versus had direct ties to the previous decade, specifically through Flower, a band formed in ’86 NYC by Richard Baluyut, Rob Hale, Yosh Najita, and Ian James (later of Cell); subsequent members included Andrew Bordwin (also of Cell and Ruby Falls), plus Baluyut’s brothers Ed and Jim. Between ’87 and ’90 they put out a 45, the 12-inch EP “Crash” (produced by Kramer) and a couple LPs, Concrete and Hologram Sky.
Through all this activity Flower remained solidly underground, this writer knowing not of their existence until the Bear and Simple Machines labels gathered the albums onto Concrete Sky, a ’94 compact disc highlighting considerable influence from Sonic Youth (no surprise given the choice of moniker), a factor that extended onward into the formation of Versus.
But first there was briefly Saturnine. Consisting of Richard Baluyut, Fontaine Toups (who had replaced James in Flower before their breakup), Jason Asnes, and Jon Dale, Saturnine existed for only two months in 1990, enough time to play two shows and conjure ten songs that just happened to be compiled by Simple Machines in ’92.
Saturnine’s sole document was titled Roto Chipper Paint Remover, one of the seven cassettes in that constantly imaginative label’s Tool series; for the record, the others were Hammer by Geek, Bates Stamper by Slack, Pocketwatch by Dave Grohl project Late!, Awl by Hated, Swiss Army Knife by The Mommyheads, and Super Saw by My New Boyfriend.
If short-lived, Saturnine did help to cohere the winning Baluyut/Toups duality to come; both sang, with Richard on guitar and Fontaine on bass, Versus’ initial lineup completed by brother Ed on drums. After a pair of singles they issued the “Let’s Electrify!” EP in ’93 on Remora, an imprint Richard ran in cahoots with Jeff Cashvan.
However, alongside a few strategic comp tracks, the disc really placing Versus on the radar was The Stars Are Insane, the first in a string of class-acts cut for Teen Beat Records. Upon joining the roster, they combined with Unrest and Eggs to (at least from the perspective of this observer) form the indie rock core of Mark Robinson’s consistently engaging, partially geographical, and occasionally eccentric enterprise.
This shouldn’t suggest Versus weren’t distinct in the Teen Beat scenario and in the general context of the ‘90s indie scene as well. With apologies to William Blake, where a whole lot of their contemporaries were clinging to innocence (the results often twee) Richard, Fontaine, and Ed chose to navigate toward experience; The Stars Are Insane is a fully grownup affair, its perhaps jocular working title being Meat, Sports and Rock.
On the other hand, Versus weren’t antagonistic in nature; they even had a 45 on K Records. In the LP’s opening seconds “Thera” proves instrumentally akin to Mission of Burma (who named them) and Sonic Youth, but quickly Baluyut begins to sing and the uniqueness springs forth, the environment enhanced by Toups’ backing/harmony, simultaneously sturdy and pretty in the choruses and later during verses that exhibit another of the band’s appealing traits, an intermittently unusual lyrical thrust.
Maybe their strongest suit, particularly at this trio stage, is the grasp on dynamics, a non-hackneyed soft-loud-soft situation where the impact of Burma ultimately wins out over SY as flashes of Sister do surface throughout the LP. Versus aren’t beholden to antecedents though, a point made abundantly clear on “Circle,” an excellent number finding Toups taking the vocal lead, morose early on only to eventually soar in combination with the great gnawing tone of Baluyut’s axe.
And Ed’s crisply expressive drumming secures him as an equal third of this equation. “Fallow” wastes no time in mixing up the program, giving Richard ample space to croon prior to Toups joining him on the chorus; while a succinct solo does arise, the raucousness doesn’t truly kick in until the song’s nearly finished.
It sets up the first of The Stars Are Insane’s three highpoints, the excellent “River,” a multifaceted track blending robust riffing and amp burn with intertwined vocal threads plainspoken (him) and sweet (her), as mid-way through a stinging couplet (“Last time I saw River/He was lying face down, he fell down face down”) makes plain the tune’s not about a body of water.
Referencing the then recent death of River Phoenix, it’s a gesture adding insight to the LP’s title and helping to establish their recurring non-facile and sometimes acerbic approach to lyrics. Indeed, the words to “Mirror Mirror” are quite complex, though short eruptions of distortion lend it necessary weight. And then the second standout emerges with “Be-9,” the dynamic range on full, comfortable display as some of the noisiest guitar gets unleashed.
An added bonus is the monotone of Toups’ backing. Interestingly, “Deseret” fades up to start the second side. Propelled by lively timekeeping, it underscores how adeptly the recording handles the loud-soft motif; Toups’ singing is introduced and for a moment everything starts dissipating save for her voice, Baluyut’s cymbal, and a terrific delay in the inevitable clamorous payoff.
The exquisite “Blade of Grass” delivers The Stars Are Insane its apex, a righteous mixture of superbly achy and smartly overdubbed strumming, weighty bass plucking, unfaltering rhythmic dexterity, Baluyut’s slyly emotive vocalizing, and a gradually building crescendo that’s topped-off by splendid harmonizing.
Certainly a hard act to follow, Versus doesn’t match it as the side plays out, but neither do they falter. “Janet” begins as a down-tempo showcase for Toups, its explosion into a chunky rocker nicely eschewing the predictable, and the speedier “Solar Democrat” opens with a string attack mildly reminiscent of Sonic Youth’s wildly riffing late-‘80s mode.
“Wind Me Up” sees Fontaine up front for the album’s most topically significant piece of writing. In comparison to much of the feminist assertiveness common to the indie milieu of the era, Toups chooses assured, eloquent protest over punk-sourced anger-spillage, a stance that stood out at the time and has aged very well. “I’ll Be You” closes a swell debut as Richard gets one last chance to explore emotionally rocky terrain. He does so with aplomb, the instrumentation providing him a vibrant springboard.
Teen Beat also issued the ’95 compilation Dead Leaves and the following year’s EP “Deep Red.” Once brother James firmly expanded them to a quartet Versus landed on Caroline for two releases (as Teen Beat continued to press the vinyl), ‘96’s Secret Swingers (the title pertains to a self-reference by warmongering lizard Henry Kissinger) and ‘98’s Two Cents Plus Tax, which saw Ed replaced by Patrick Ramos.
Then it was on to Merge for a pair of EPs, ‘99’s “Afterglow” and 2000’s “Shangri-La,” and one long-player, ‘00’s Hurrah. Yes, the band might seem prone to label-hopping; together with the aforementioned K 45 they additionally connected for singles and comp slots on Land Speed, Simple Machines, Pop Narcotic, Matador, Kill Rock Stars, Yoyo, and Troubleman Unlimited. And yet the quality of Versus’ music didn’t suffer.
In fact, they never made a bad or even mediocre record; after years of pursuing assorted projects (Whysall Lane, The Pacific Ocean, The Fontaine Toups, and +/-) they released On the Ones and Threes via Merge in 2010, a powerful effort from the original trio augmented by the violin of Margaret White. It bookends very well with The Stars Are Insane, which is the where anybody curious about Versus should start.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
