Send "Versus " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 They weren't as influential as Pavement, as industrious as Guided By Voices, as idiosyncratic as Unrest, or as ubiquitous as Superchunk. But the part that Versus played in the indie rock underground of the 1990s can't be overlooked. In some ways, Versus were the quintessential indie rock band. Versus' growth throughout the decade, from mawkish noise-popists beholden to their underground-approved influences (on 1993's The Stars Are Insane) to mature, reliable, genre-bounding songwriters (on 2000's Hurrah) mirrors the growth, for better or worse, of the genre as a whole. The group's two Caroline Records releases-- 1996's Secret Swingers, and 1998's Two Cents Plus Tax-- sound as close as most any other records to a definitive indie rock sound. That those records are out-of-print says as much about Versus' fortunes as it does the fortunes of hooky, three-to-four-minute indie rock tracks like "Atomic Kid" and "Lose That Dress".Now, after a smattering of live dates over the past 10 years, the original Versus (guitarist/vocalist Richard Baluyut, bassist/vocalist Fontaine Toups, and drummer Ed Baluyut) decided to give it another go. They don't pick up where they left off, however: Rather than big hooks, the first songs on the band's first album in a decade, "Invincible Hero" and "Nu Skin", are decidedly mid-tempo. And when the somewhat patient listener is rewarded with songs like the meandering "Cicada", and the brick-subtle brow-beaten title track, it's easy to overlook the album's stronger tracks-- Baluyut's lovestruck ballad "Gone to Earth" and "Saturday Saints", or Toups' bittersweet turns on "Into Blue" and "Scientists". Longtime Versus fans might be pleasantly surprised at the leaps Toups has made as a both a singer and a songwriter (those who heard her work fronting the Fontaine Toups won't be as shocked). Toups is indeed charmingly world-weary on the first half of "Erstwhile", and crafts something deceptively wistful and light on "Pink Valhalla". Baluyut's growth as a writer is more evident with multiple spins. Musically, there are nice touches here: the round-robin harmonies that end "Gone to Earth"; the gradual crescendo that builds throughout "Saturday Saints"; the way "Erstwhile" effortlessly transitions from Toups' whimsical cane-shaking ruminations into Richard Baluyut's more ponderous thoughts, then circles back on itself for the coda....full text |
| Avclub |
| After debuting in 1993 with the cryptic, corrosive guitar-pop of The Stars Are Insane, Versus grew increasingly cleaner, sweeter, and more cleverly ironic. By the time 2000’s Hurrah came out, co-leaders Richard Baluyut and Fontaine Toups were tossing off song titles like “I Love The WB” and singing archly about pouring champagne and popping pills, apparently reveling in the sheer perversity of it all. Ten years and a few assorted projects later, Baluyut and Toups have regrouped and released Hurrah’s follow-up, On The Ones And Threes. Whatever juice Versus used up in 2000 has been wholly replenished: On par with the band’s best album, 1995’s Dead Leaves, the new disc is a gutsy, raggedy, dynamic set of vintage indie-rock that harnesses dissonance—both sonic and emotional—and twists that discord into melodic, melancholic confessionals. “You didn’t have the patience for make-believe,” sings Baluyut on “Gone To Earth,” and that return to a raw, defiant innocence is as striking as the band’s cynical departure from it was more than a decade ago. Older, wiser, and a little weathered around the edges, Versus no longer has time for irony or niceties. Accordingly, On The Ones isn’t a nostalgic tickle—it’s a wake-up punch....full text |
| Undertheradarmag |
| The first minute or so of "Invincible Hero," the opening track of the first Versus album in 10 years, presses the question: Where has Versus been all this time? A decade has passed since their last album, Hurrah, and sometimes a break isn't a bad idea, of course. Whatever the case, the core of Richard Baluyut, Fontaine Toups and returning member Edward Baluyut have emerged, 20 years after their formation, with what might be the band's best album. For longtime fans, such a declaration may be compromised by what Versus means to them, but even if 1993's The Stars Are Insane or maybe 1996's Secret Swingers seemed like indisputable peaks, On the Ones and Threes offers a perfect example of someone's second or third act being both an achievement worth recognition and a catalyst for a reevaluation of its creators' body of work. "Invincible Hero" immediately puts all of their strengths up front: tight instrumentation, strong melodies, and the close harmonies of Richard and Fontaine. "Nu Skin" in particular spotlights their vocal interplay, and with some great melodic twists unwinding over a hypnotic pace, it's a highlight. "Seven long years I've been left for dead...I fell from grace with the sun on my face," sings Richard in the gritty-and-graceful "Cicada," a song that provides a terrific centerpiece for the album. Stretching out over five minutes to showcase each player, urgent guitars and drums give way to a sweet, sad break before Richard and Fontaine join vocals to close the song....full text |
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