Versa - Neon (EP Review)

Versa has had an interesting career. The band, originally named VersaEmerge, signed to Pete Wentz’s once fabled Decaydance Records (an imprint of Fueled By Ramen) and released a fairly well received album way back in 2010 called Fixed At Zero. At that time people were talking about the band like they had potential to be as big as another Fueled By Ramen band, Paramore. After a few years, a few line-up changes, some style exploration, etc... VersaEmerge dropped the Emerge and just became a duo known as Versa.

Since the release of their debut album the band hasn't been totally inactive. They've released a couple things in preparation for what would have been VersaEmerge's second album. For whatever reason the album never happened. When the group announced they were changing the band name to Versa and would be self-releasing their new EP Neon as a pay-what-you-want release on Bandcamp a lot of interest and questions swirled around the release. I was definitely interested to see what the duo could do after a fairly impressive debut in 2010.

Neon is a three song EP and from the start you notice a few things are different and some things are the same. The difference comes in the type of songwriting. Fixed At Zero had some electronic elements but more so leaned on the alternative rock side of things. Neon more so leans on electronic elements. The style creates a pretty good moody vibe to it.  There are a few standout guitar parts throughout the three songs, but even with that it still leans on the electronic elements much more than Fixed At Zero did. Sierra Kay's vocal ability is still really impressive. That aspect remains the same and it really becomes the backbone of the EP. Her vocals anchor it in the same way as they anchored Fixed At Zero.

"Illusion" the second track on the EP and parts of it almost sound like they could have been written by Trent Reznor musically. The female and male vocal parts are pretty strong. It's probably my favorite track on the EP. I really like the flow of the EP as well. It creates a moody electronic vibe that is done really well.

The downfall is that fans are still looking for another full length and after four years of waiting three songs clocking in at around 13 minutes is a little on the slim side. The name change could also have a negative impact as it affects recognition which could be important after such a long wait. Casual fans of the band’s 2010 album might not even think this is the same couple of people on this new EP. The style change, even though the band does a decent job at it, might not be my favorite direction as I preferred the overall sound of Fixed At Zero quite a bit more.

All things considered Versa comes out decently strong on their new EP. It may not catch quite the attention Fixed At Zero did, but it does show the duo can still write some high quality songs. I think that if you liked Fixed At Zero you should probably still be able to get into this EP. It's definitely a progression, but it works in quite a few ways.

You can download the EP here: http://officialversa.bandcamp.com/