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.
So even if this album plays hard to get, there's plenty to love for those willing to listen. When a band reconvenes after a long hiatus to release new music, there's always the fear that whatever emerges will be a shadow of past glories, or a regretful nostalgia trip. Thankfully, for an album whose words are often soaked with regret and nostalgia, the music on Ones and Threes is heartening proof that this version of Versus, whatever their future brings, are going to leave their past in the past.
