Mark’s Pick of the Week: Waiting For Something to Happen by Veronica Falls

           These guys as a genre are considered “horror rock.”  If that’s the case I don’t know if that term really conjures up the right image.  Horror to most people is something very inhuman, something hard to look at, or even unimaginable.   The kind of horror these guys invoke in their songs are the everyday horrors we face.  The fears and uncertainties we all wake up to.  Sure sometimes it seems cliché or to romantic, but these guys manage to do a fantastic job flirting with that line without going over it. 

            Waiting For Something to Happen is the sophomore effort from London quartet, Veronica Falls.  For anyone who likes jangly 80’s British pop songs (The Smiths, Jesus and Mary Chain) these guys will certainly sound pretty familiar.  However, instead of just rehashing what Morrissey did these guys bring a number of nice new bits to the table.

            The most striking thing is the great chemistry that exists between the two vocalists/guitarists: Roxanne Clifford and James Hoare.  Almost every song has them in harmony or echoing one another in their vocals.  The whole thing seems so effortless that it adds a fantastic unearthly quality to it.  Together their singing evokes something that neither would be able to do alone.  Speaking of chemistry this album consisted mostly of live playing instead of each member recording separately. 

            The consistency of the album is fantastic as well.  Almost every track could stand alone on its own merits, which makes the overall listening experience very fluid.  Of course the album dips and curves, but they compliment each other in such a way that a lot of potentially great albums fail to do.  The placement of “Shooting Star,” a slow quiet track, before Waiting for Something to Happen, a sunny jangly track helps to spread out the tracks and gives them a refreshing variety.

            I had originally planed on ending this post by saying this is a good album, but don’t expect to see it on my end of the year lists, but after the second listen I have since changed my mind on that hasty statement.  There is certainly a long way to go until December, but by no means are these guys out of the race.  In fact, I think this is an album that has the potential to grow on you if you let it. 

            Check them out on facebook and their website. 

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