Before we go on, let us be clear: there is absolutely nothing wrong with bands or artists emulating work of years gone by.
Such approaches hark back to the genesis of rock and roll, probably even further. Cover versions were always par for the course. No Jerry Lee Lewis, no Elvis. No Syd Barrett, no David Bowie. The Rolling Stones basically followed The Beatles’ career path for the 1960s before finding their own. Certain punk bands were interchangeable. Then, in the 1990s, a whole movement in Britain was largely dedicated to celebrating the past.
However a few years prior to that, guitar music was in a healthy and eclectic state. In the USA, grunge was dominating the alternative charts. Across the pond, as well as welcoming the plaid shirt invasion, the fuzzy pan-swept noise of shoegaze was on the rise. Two differing approaches, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, which now sound so quintessentially tied to those few years that they evoke memories of Tab Clear, smiley-face hoodies and fizzy drink branded yo-yos. Both have been imitated but never bettered, but there have been very few bands brave enough to try and merge the two. Until now.
Versing have the pedigree; songwriter/guitarist/vocalist Daniel Salas was an alternative music director at a college radio station in Seattle, where he met the rest of the band. After gracing the local scene for a few years, they released an album in 2017 called…Nirvana. If you are thinking that they must be extracting the Michael, you’d be half-right. All too knowingly aware of the noise they are making, Versing are getting their pre-emptive strikes in whilst also paying tribute. 10000 is unashamedly nineties, and once you’ve stopped smiling at their gall, there is much to enjoy here.
Comparisons are easy but unavoidable; the early R.E.M. of recent single Offering is combined with a very Dave Grohl-esque vocal, whilst having the breezy attitude of The Lemonheads. By Design channels Elastica and by proxy Wire in the chugging riff which accompanies slacker vocals before becoming its own thing with an aspirational outro. Violeta is more disconcerting, being moody, dramatic and angst-ridden akin to the Smashing Pumpkins with added feedback, while Tethered opens with a Peter Hook bassline and then follows the Pixies formula of quiet verse/loud chorus.
On it goes: Long Chord has the yearning vocal delivery and swampy sound of early Ash, while Loving Myself is pure Slowdive in its panoramic glory. Whilst college grunge is the main touchpoint, there are sprinklings of shoegaze throughout. Fortunately, there is purity beneath the plagiarism, as 3D conveys a feeling of defiant inadequacy while closer Renew, which works very well as an accompaniment to opener Entryism (the songs have very similar guitar melodies, tempos and moods), finds Salas reflecting that, ‘Some things never stay the same’. Ironically put, purposeful and, like the rest of the album, delivered with an enthusiasm that is impossible to ignore.
The band know exactly what they are doing, and make no bones about. ‘9/11 messed up a lot of things culturally, including music’, Salas insists, ‘it engendered a deep social conservatism’. It’s a valid point and deserves further discussion beyond the ‘rock music is dead’ arguments. But for now, with this strong collection of songs, Versing are at least breathing life into the corpse by evoking one the genre’s many heydays.