A Verse Unsung preview

A Verse Unsung
DePaul University, Chicago
Sunday, January 20, 2008

Some kids spend their senior year of high school applying to colleges and the following summer gearing up for the big move/life change that inevitably comes with heading off to a university setting. The fellas in A Verse Unsung did, in fact, experience some life-changing moments following graduation, but not the normal coming-of-age milestones one would expect.

The Minnesota foursome (all are eligible to vote and enlist in the military, but not much else) formed in 2005 and schlepped gear to and from the average house party (so far pretty average) before releasing the attention-grabbing, The Autumn EP (Somnio) (slightly breaching the chasm between average and exotic), following up with a full-length record, Sleeping Tigers (veering dangerously close to abnormal), and going out on the road, sharing stages with Spoon and The Flaming Lips along the way (definitely above and beyond the career trajectory of the rest of their senior class).

A cross between the jumpy, mini-symphonies of Fall Out Boy and the purpose-driven melodies of Anberlin, Sleeping Tigers is a mature, promising effort. Seamless in its execution, the album’s 10 tracks glide by without much distinction, but please nonetheless. Jake Scherer’s vocals itch to let out a Linkin Park-type vocal chord-bursting bellow, but fortunately he reins the urge in and actually sings with more precision and less fanfare than any crop of “American Idol” contestants.

— Janine Schaults

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly