Versus The World – Self Titled

Reading this band’s biography, you get the feeling as if you’re reading the “who’s who” of the punk community, or more accurately, the “who’s who” of the Kung Fu Records former roster. With Mike Davenport of The Ataris on bass, Trevor Lewis of Antifreeze on drums, Donald Spence of 40 Cents Short on guitar and vocals along with Nic Matsuda on guitar, you know the members of Versus The World are far from being juniors; and immediately, depending on your view of their other bands, their self-titled CD seems to be looking upwards in most people’s mind. And in all honesty, it never seems to dip downwards.

With a set of bands including The Ataris and Antifreeze, you are sure to immediately start picturing a easily accessible pop-punk band; and while that description is a fairly accurate and straight forward description, as you listen to it more, it’s obvious that Versus The World has something different. In every song, you feel something familiar, that certain attraction which makes any good pop-punk band so memorable and catchy, but they are still creating a certain sound of their own. The vocals aren’t your classic whiny, poppy, boyish vocals, but rather more harmonious and enjoyable.

Versus The World‘s Self-titled effort features all the must haves to make a memorable pop-punk album like the catchy Ghost In The Bottle, the acoustic song full of intelligent and moving lyrics with Love Every Scar and then, as a bonus song, the Tenacious D wannabe No Where Fast. They even do the Fall Out Boy thing and throw in a scream every once in a while to add to the backbone of the song structure. Lyrically, they aren’t anything ground breaking, but they don’t come off as trite or obnoxious either. Instead of being over loaded with amazing lyrics, they keep it fairly steady with enough to keep you entertained and then throw in one or two amazing verses or choruses to really make the song stick out.

Versus The World have constructed a solid debut album. It;s not ground breaking, but it has set up a sturdy platform for the band to grow on top of. It’s something familiar, with a little tinge of individuality thrown in there to make it more memorable; but the fact remains that most pop-punk fans will enjoy it.