Richard Baluyut and Fontaine Toups, clad, respectively, in sassy silk pajamas and a lime green cocktail dress with unlaced Filas and black stockings, are clearly the most stylish record sleeve models of 1997. There is simply no competition.
Staring seductively from a retro hotel bedroom in an alternate hip universe, the founding members of New York City's Versus invite you to a party for their new album, "Secret Swingers." This Friday night at 8 p.m., one of the most stylish bands in the business appears with Providence R.I.'s The Fly Seville and a campus band, called Re: your band, at a Programming Board Showcase at Zeta Psi fraternity.
Baluyut, Toups and two more well-dressed Baluyuts (Ed and Jimmy, they are related) blend the avant-pop of 1980s' Sonic Youth with the harmonies of D.C.'s Unrest and throw in their own off-kilter sense of lyrics and love ("If I kill myself/ Will you kill yourself, too?") to create something that is (gasp!) rock music.
"Secret Swingers" was something of a breakthrough album for Versus, garnering praise in such mainstream outlets as Magnet, Alternative Press, the Village Voice and Raygun. But long before sweaty, nervous indie rock boys and girls chased all over town for their records, these would-be rock stars lugged their own instruments from coast to coast and played them at just about every significant "indie rock event" of the last six years.
Musically, "Secret Swingers" is a significant departure from the band's earlier full-length releases on Teenbeat, "The Stars are Insane" (1994) and "Dead Leaves" (1995). An increased focus on lyrics, the addition of Jimmy on second guitar and the opportunity to spend more time in the studio combined to fill out the band's sound and to lend the album a very comfortable feel.
It is clear that Versus has come into its own with "Secret Swingers," crafting solid songs as varied as "Yeah You" and "Glitter of Love," both catchy four-minute rockers and "Double Suicide," a seven-minute, one-chord jam "for all the couples" that somehow manages to mutate into something completely different by the end.
The 45-minute album itself mutates into a different beast by the end, closing with a long, longing love song leftover from a junior high school dance perfectly titled "A Heart Is a Diamond."
Despite the obvious musical growth and sassy new outfits -- or, more accurately, because of these new developments -- I found myself wishing at times for the less-polished lyrics and raw energy of their early material.
They have yet to match "b-9" from the "Half-Cocked" movie soundtrack or even the rough pop of K Records' "Frog." Whatever the problems, though, I still cannot get enough of Fontaine's giggles at the end of the "Secret Swinger" song "Lose that Dress."
Though not quite hip enough to design their CD after the Dolce and Gabbana logo, The Fly Seville is a group of fine looking rock stars, brilliant musicians and, of course, very snappy dressers.
The Fly Seville takes the lyrical and musical complexity of the guitarist/lead singer's origins in former band Pollenate's intense dirge-rock and transforms it into bittersweet summertime melodies led by a trebling guitar and backed by the driving undercurrent of bassist Colin Rhinesmith and innovative drumming.
The six tracks on their self-titled eponymous cassette drip with poetic lyrics, Jessie Blatz's resonant vocals and seemingly natural hooks. Now with a new drummer, Randy Noonan, new material and the addition of keyboardist/violinist Stacy Jacobsen, The Fly Seville should be quite a treat live.
The members of Re: your band, a Dartmouth band who remained anonymous -- though, rumor has it, very stylish -- at press time, open the show.
