Indiana. The ‘Hoosier’ state. Known for basketball, the Indianapolis 500 and … Veseria?
Not to speak in hyperbole, but the four-piece rock band out of Indianapolis is showing heavy promise with their third full-length album RLTVTY.
While there are many aspects to the record that impress me, I have to start by applauding the band with one thing first — the husband-wife songwriting combo of Jen and Patrick Roberts. I mean, seriously, great work. And as someone who is getting married in a matter of days, please feel free to drop me any solicited advice …
Moving on …. Veseria is somewhat unique in that they don’t attach themselves to any genre. Sure, I know I know. Every band makes that claim. But listen to RLTVTY and call them what you will: folk, rock, blues, indie, classic rock, adult contemporary? Just kidding on the last one — kind of. The point is that they are different and unapologetically unafraid to experiment.
Although their music is comparable to that of Florence & The Machine, Death Cab For Cutie or The Decemberists, their sound purposely varies across the record.
NUVO Newsweekly described Veseria as, “the distinct sound of a band willing to take risks and chase personal truths across nearly the entire spectrum of rock-based music.”
A couple of my favorite tracks include “Hunting Accidents” and “Time To Kill.” The first starts fun and includes a catchy repetitive guitar riff, almost like something off a pop-punk track. The song then builds, ending with an amazing crescendo. I also love the unfamiliar chord progression of “Time To Kill,” a song that has an old crunchy rock sound that adds the element of ‘Fox Daddy.’ Who is that? I don’t know. But it works.
There’s also “Zenobia,” a song that almost has a Nirvana-like framework.
I do feel like there are some songs that simply lack dynamics. But the songs that do have it. Oh, Lord. They’re fantastic. The HORNS. Yup. They add. horns. Genius.
There are also several moments throughout the record that clearly tell me this band is great live. It’s mostly the parts that have horns.
If the members of Veseria continue to grow as songwriters, I feel like RLTVTY could be the album everyone looks back on as the remarkable work of art the band produced before making it big. They’ve already played several music festivals and opened up for bands like Lynard Skynyrd, Bad Company, Panic! At The Disco and 311. So what’s next? Only an upward trajectory as long as they’re willing to work as hard on their future records like they did on this one. RLTVTY was a year-and-a-half project.
“We hope that you may find some resemblance of your own life’s story and the shared responses of love, hope, anger, fear, sorrow and overwhelming joy. This record was a journey unlike any other for our group,” said the band.
“We began with a list of 25 songs we wanted to record and after a year of tracking, retracking, throwing it all away, rewriting, retracking, mixing, mastering and then editing down our tracklist, we ended with a 13-track album that we could not be happier with.”
The 2017 RLTVTY tour is already under way. You can check out dates on their website here. If you live anywhere close and want to check out an eclectic band quickly on the rise so that you can say, “I saw them before they were famous,” I high recommend a listen.
Josh Helmuth is an editor for Crave and a longtime music lover whose first record was Eric Clapton. However, his first concert? That choice he will take to the grave.
Veseria’s new album, ‘RLTVTY’ released on July 29th on Romanus Records. You can listen to it here.
