Customer Reviews

Hurrah

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After two brillant EPs ("Afterglow" and "The Shangra La Ep"), Versus has released yet another masterful full length album.

Like their contemporaries Yo La Tengo, Versus write beautiful, slightly bitter pop songs fortified with sparkling harmonies and just enough noise to make things interesting. On this album, the band has taken the helm for most of the production, and the result is a definite departure from the sound they established on the slicker "Two Cents Plus Tax". Many of the songs on "Hurrah" have arrangements that at first seem rather sparse, but in fact are rich with subtle touches.

Richard Balyut's has one of the most interesting voices on rock, and it really shines on this disc. His forceful but tender delivery really shines on "My Adidas" and "Shangri-La", and assumes a menacing growl on "Fredrick's of Hollywood".

Bassist Fontaine Toups makes the most of her turns on lead vocals, particularly on the lyically simple but effective "You'll Be Sorry". Her harmonies with Balyut are perfect for the bittersweet pop gems on this record, and her bass playing is simple but highly effective

On "Hurrah" second guitarist James Balyut has added duties as chief engineer, but he excels at both, and Patrick Ramos' drumming perfectly complements these songs without being overbearing or showy.

In short, there are few better ways to spend $14 then to but this CD (or *any* Versus CD!). In a time where the pop song seem to be a lost art, Versus excel with melody, intelligence, and versatility without resorting to mimicry or cliches. In a word, Hurrah!

This album is a real divergence for Versus- they recorded nearly the whole record on a hard disk recorder, using keyboards extensively for the first time. As a whole the album is really good, and certainly a lot better than the critical backlash from some quarters would indicate, but on a couple of tracks they did fall into the common trap with home-studio recorded albums of not quite knowing where to stop. For example, on Play Dead the whole song is clearly driven by an acoustic rhythm guitar part which has been all but mixed into inaudibility-probably because the band got sick of hearing it again and again in the mix-and the song suffers as a result.
That aside, Fontaine Toups' two songs are standouts, and Richard Baluyut's lyrics are as thoughtful as ever-he manages to write songs about the Heaven's Gate cult and suicide bombers without ever sounding flippant or tacky, and provides love song lyrics that are still skewed enough to avoid sentimentality. James Baluyut's growing influence in the band, apparent in the use of electronics and his My Bloody Valentine guitar stylings, adds a new dimension.
So if you're looking for a warm-sounding guitar-drenched follow-up to Two Cents Plus Tax, you'll probably be disappointed with this CD (Check out Less Than The Needle, More Than the Shotgun by third Baluyut brother Ed's band The Pacific Ocean instead), but listen to Hurrah on its own terms and you won't be disappointed.

This is by far Versus's worst album. (Keep in mind, all their other albums are fantastic) Everything sounds good on here, but most of the songs are lacking in one way or another when compared to any of their other albums. 'Stars are Insane' 'Secret Swingers' and '2 Cents plus tax' are all great albums. Versus won't blow you away when you first listen to them since their approach is not unique, but they do it better than most. I'd give 4-5 stars for all of their albums but this one.
Unfortunately this album sounds like a band going through the motions. There are a few great songs on this: "Play dead" and "Shangri-La" are great... and "mermaid Legs" and "walkabout" are good as well. Since its been 5 years since this, I'm curious to hear the next Versus album...I hear that there will be one

The first time I heard of VERSUS I was in a friend's car listening to the 9th track on "Hurrah" titled "Walkabaout" and I nearly had to jump out of the car. If you like unique sound in your music that focuses on other instrumentation besides electirc guitar non-stop, "Hurrah" is the album for you. Also, I am happy to say that "Hurrah" is a classic indie rock album that you can listen to all the way through without skipping a track. You may have to give it a few tries, but listening to it over and over again is highly reccomended. To this day, I have owned the album twice (I out-played the first one) and "Walkabout" remains my favorite track along with "My Adidas" and "Sayonara". Beware....you will find yourself falling deeply into the musical sounds of each song (they are extremely catchy), while sitting there listening to the simple lyrics and say "You know what? This song was written about me!" I give this band 5 stars because it's the essential feel-good album with no confusing lyrics or annoying sounds blasting in your ears. Straight up awesome.

I like the versus folks. They wrote good music. Now they've went away. I think this is their best record. I didn't think that at first. I started listening to it at work and it got better. Then it got a whole lot better. Now I can't live without it. I hope they come back soon.

Versus are a sentimental favorite of mine. They were the last show that my wife and I went to when she was pregnant. Now, we don't go out much - a few rock fans out there might understand. Versus are also a sentimental favorite, in that their best songs have a winning, winsome quality about them that's hard to dislike. One could argue that Versus have actually gotten better over the years. Still, there's a frustrating quality that's present on all of their records:Inconsistency. About half or two thirds of their stuff is always good or great, and the rest is fairly crappy. "Hurrah" is really no different is this respect. Mostly it's a real good record, but as ususal there are the handful of duds to spoil it. "Frederick's of Hollywood" in particular is a real stinker. It goes on too long trying to rock out in a bland Sonic Youth-sounding jam. Not to dwell on the negative, songs like "Play Dead" and "Mermaid Legs" have that aforementioned sentimental Versus quality about them. Like most Versus recordings, "Hurrah" is more good than bad. If only they would release a definitive "Best of" . . .