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Verse Metrics EP Review

Stirling journalism student Neil Stewart does a track by track review of the impressive first release by Verse Metrics:

I saw this outfit playing on the same bill as my friends Miniature Dinosaurs at Cape, Stirling on the 19th of November 2010. I was instantly impressed with the band's eagerness to explain their aims and plans for breaking through in Scotland and the rest of the UK. I was given a high-tech preview copy of their first release, and after entering the single use code online - which made me feel a bit like James Bond! - I was able to enjoy the great production and diversity that characterises their work.

The first song on the EP is Tired Lights ; it showcases the band's preference for heady, soft verse sections with clean finger-picking guitar work by lead guitarist Alan Conway. This is counter-balanced with crunchy, overdriven sections, washing around the always outstanding, well-balanced vocal approach of lead singer Robert Dick. A first listen calls to mind Interpol and Editors, but removing the vocal, the bands approach could also compare to instrumentalists Explosions In The Sky with their thoughtful composition and dynamic. The band develop the quiet soft formula with accessible guitar hooks and genuinely memorable chorus sections - the guitar work is at times truly stirring - and there is no getting away from the quality of the production and the confident, impassioned musicianship on display.

Fractions demonstrates the bands diversity, skipping in at much looser, dancier pace, with the punchy, distorted base courtesy of David Dailly and nice splashy ride cymbals by Martin Dalziel which are a treat for the ears. I enjoyed the wandering, playful musicality of this track - its complex arrangement and addictive loop which ripples beneath the guitars - and the way it calls to mind driving along a highway at dusk, in a large American automobile, with a head full of poems. This band are not afraid to challenge the listener, altering their time signatures, and introducing many parts to the songs. My favourite track I think.

Husker begins with ambient strings and a sticky guitar riff, approaching Icelandic giants Sigur Rós, again signalling a fearless change of pace and style, with a draughty, icy feel to the track. The drumbeats and use of punctuated beats maintain interest throughout a slow, contemplative introductory section, before a dirtier guitar sound crashes in, with the vocalist demonstrating an impressive range. This song evokes Jeff Buckley on Grace, high praise, but accurate for the way it feels like a very personal, direct and determined piece of music, building to a stunning climax.

Horoscopes is a lovely sounding track, in the Mojave 3 mould, but also touching that slowcore vibe which informs many great bands. Outstanding here are the interplay between guitars and drums, saying little but achieving a lot with nice little gliss runs, and an omnipresent fingerpicking which might be the trademark of this bands sound. This is a fall asleep track, one to curl up with a girlfriend and talk about your dreams with, and it suggests the band are in touch with heartfelt, sincere songwriting. At the end, there is a sudden burst of riffs, fading out in a hiss of cymbals, which works in the context of a band who are eager to surprise with their arrangements.

Sad Bones closes the record, a good choice, as it has a very conclusive, celebratory air to it, with a haughty, jumpy guitar line, sparking into more complex guitar work, and again that great clean picking sound. There is also a nice lead bit in this song in which the guitar really sings behind the vocals, in the way that Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins used to mimic his vocal melody with his guitar to strengthen it. It's a short and sweet track, a good end to a well balanced EP of a good length which is full of variety and promise.

This band have an air of professionalism which will no doubt carry them across the country and earn them many admirers.