The Verve Pipe: Brian Vander Ark (vocals, guitar); A.J. Dunning (guitar, background vocals); Doug Corella (keyboards, percussion); Brad Vander Ark (bass, background vocals); Donny Brown (drums, background vocals).
Recorded at Studio D and The Plant, Sausalito, California.
Sophistication and seriousness characterize this major-label debut from The Verve Pipe, a band that stresses musical skill and careful, melodic arrangements without sacrificing an ever-present sense of roughness and urgency. The result is tuneful power-pop with the soul of true rock, made even more exceptional by lead singer Brian Vander Ark's unrestrained, emotional vocals and the abrupt directions the music takes when you least expect it.
The songs cover a range of topics and moods, from "The Freshmen," an acoustic tune that captures the essence of regret and guilt with its delicate melody and lyrics, to "Villains," which starts out quietly edgy and veers ferociously into a savage sexuality: "Out of the corner of my eye/I see a pair of blazing thighs/See how they twist and shout." Ex-Talking Head Jerry Harrison, who has produced albums for Crash Test Dummies and Live, accomplishes a simple, lucid production that nicely offsets the density and fierceness of most of VILLAINS' tracks.
