Varsity

It may be 2016, but this Blog is still racing through the essential cuts of 2015...

 
Chicago's Varsity are Stephanie Smith on vocals and keyboards, Dylan Weschler and Pat Stanton on guitars alongside Jake and Paul Stolz on drum 'n' bass respectively. They're also another of my "six degree of Twitter separation" bands. We bumped into one another via t'interweb, which introduced me to a band who - much like Cardiff's The School - are arguably amongst 2015's consummate purveyors of no-nonsense timeless indie-pop. Again, one thing lead to another and I was soon abusing my credit card to consume not only their recent digital single "Cult of personality" / "So sad, so sad" but also trouser their entire back catalogue.

Actually I'm not sure whether the digital single has an "A" or "B" side - such is the consistency of the songs. Kicking-in with gloriously warming and swirling analogue synths "Cult of personality" is the musical equivalent of a pinball machine, each flick of the flippers sending the tune crashing into another musical genre... There's those psychedelia-inspired keys, a hint of early Lone Justice (think of Stephanie as a less gravelled Maria McKee) not to mention that nailed-on reverbed indie-guitar sound that was practiced by thousands of lonely boys and girls in bedrooms throughout the north of England. Throw in those swooning "Whoo-hoos", add some discordant guitars during a far-from subtle change of pace about two-thirds of the way through - not to mention a coda you don't ever want to end - and the song sounds like a tune with multiple personality disorders. However, the band's ability to churn out infectious riffs and poptastic hooks for fun not only ties everything together it also ensures that "Cult of personality" is far, far more than the sum of its not inconsiderable parts. It's in fact an 18 carat gem of a pop-song - a pop-song that is as far removed from the bland shit-on-a-stick "pap" that Billboard, the RIAA and the crime to music that is FM radio here in The States would class as pop. Ladies and Gentlemen, if pop-music sounded this good, 7" singles would still be flying out of the door and there would be a record store in every street corner (just like Starbucks, but a whole lot more wholesome).

Which doesn't mean that "So sad, so sad" is a bit of a slouch. À la Warpaint there's a bit of a blown intro, before metronomic drums lead into lilting guitars, soothing - pitch-perfect - vocals and a song that not only threatens to morph into Alvvays' "Ones who love you", it sounds as if it could have been recorded during the same sessions as those loveable Canadians' debut album. A downbeat tale of not quite being able to let go, Stephanie's vocals are  tinged with just a touch of melancholy to perfectly capture the mood. There's the most amazing of soaring refrains conjoined to a hook which takes you right back to the heady days of sixties female pop vocalists. Throw in a touch of C86 and an infusion of Twee and it becomes apparent that here is a band who have spent many an hour pouring over just about every half-decent genre of popular music from the past fifty years and who - in a nod to the theory that moderne, c'est dejà vieux - have borrowed from the past to create a soundtrack that is both incredibly fresh but also reassuringly familiar.

So as previously mentioned, this brief introduction to the poptastic world according to Varsity led me to delve into their back catalogue... Indeed, a quick spin of their eponymous debut album - released earlier this year - suggested that this was another to add to the collection (kids - if it's worth streaming, it's worth buying). 
 

A fact reinforced  by the opening track "Hairpool" and another song that immediately dives head first into the rich musical heritage of sixties girl groups (ker-ching... that's why I'm immediately hooked) and - as has been noted by bloggers more astute than I - a nod in the direction of Stereolab. There's crispness and clarity to the guitars as well as another complete change of both pace and mood about two-thirds through (reinforced by the accompanying video - which in keeping with the whole sixties theme is shot in a 4:3 aspect ratio) which totally accentuates the whole sixties girl-band vibe. I've only recently discovered this band, but listening to this track it's easy to see that the rave reviews it gathered at the time of its release - by those obviously in the know - where more than justified. 

Whereas "Hairpool" walks a sixties tightrope between dream-pop and teen-tragedy (something The School pull-off with equal panache), "Peanut dreams" is straight out of the eighties. Everything here is nice and tight; duelling guitars are to the fore, Stephanie's vocals a pleasing mix of mild-to-wild as she bemoans; "...You don't want to play with me no more..." The song is a diamond in the rough indie-pop gem that literally flies by  in just under a couple of minutes. 

But it's as I'm listening to a "Declined" that I have a bit of a déjà vu moment. Over the burbling synth I could almost swear that I was listening to UK indie-popsters The Cosines so uncannily does Stephanie sound like Alice Hubley as the song settles down into a pub-rocker - but then the band step it up a notch, before - and by now I'm guessing this is a particular Varsity trait - turn everything down as the song fades out to a dreamy analogue-synth coda. There's a killer live version of the song in the clip below:

   
"Fall back on the arrow you love" is another perfect-slice of dreamy indie-pop. Perhaps not as 'immediate' as the songs that precede it - more of a slow-burner than an instant hit - but there's more than enough reverbed guitar and percussion to swirl alongside Stephanie's oh-so-sweet vocals. Oh and there's a kicker of a refrain and some sweet vocal effects as the song's title is repeated over-and-over. Bit of a this one grower. Mark my words... 

So by now it should be perfectly apparent that Varsity have nailed this indie-pop thing to a tee. Take for example "C. 2002."Stephanie may sing about 'circa 20-02' but it's fairly obvious that the song could have been written any time since the jangly post-punk world of C86 was discovered. It's effervescent indie-guitar pop at its finest. Meanwhile "Turns out" and it's languid guitars flits back and forth across the Atlantic borrowing from eighties indie and guitar-pop from both sides of the Pond. "...There's gotta, gotta be a better way..." shrieks Stephanie. Listening to this, I'm not so sure...

It's been suggested that "Blair, who kisses his mom" is Varsity's homage to Moz, yet while the song is full of Morrissey themes - our lonesome boy may indeed kiss his mom / mum and there's more than a hint of ** cough ** family lovin' - and whereas our Steven Patrick would ensure the song was wracked with melodrama and was painted in a maudlin soundscape as grey as Salford on a wet Wednesday in January, here Varsity are applying technicolour brushes. Dad may be gone - for a 'career as a travelling television salesman'  - but Blair and his mother are going to be just fine...

Ultimately though this album conclusively demonstrates that there's so much more to indie-pop than 100 mph guitars, power chords and metronomic percussion. Take for example the closing number, "Full length dress." Twee-pop sensibilities shuffle nervously around the edge of the dance floor as to gorgeous reverbed guitar Stephanie shyly confesses that 'it's alright to sleep around for just one night' before bringing home a new-found friend with a penchant for crossdressing... And then everything comes alive in a fusion of swirling synthesisers and guitars as the song brings this album to a joyous finale. 

However, it's the achingly beautiful "Amanda" that is without a doubt the glacé cherry a top this most delightful cupcake of an album. Reverbed guitars give way to another dreamy of Twee-tinged pop-songs (and trust me 'Pop' - when it is this good is not a dirty word); Arguably Stephanie's best vocal performance - sweet, but not overtly so and with just a hint of mischief - throw in a haunting synth-fused middle-eight, lilting guitars and just enough feedback to fade and I'd argue that this is as good an example of a band who are on top of their game as I've heard. 

Varsity. Exemplary purveyors of timeless indie-pop and currently Chicago's best-kept secret. I suspect for not much longer...

Varsity (Website), (Bandcamp)
"Cult of personality / So sad, so sad" (Bandcamp)
"Varsity" (Bandcamp)