Versing

In the first months of 2016 the Seattle four-piece Versing surfaced with an abrasive yet melodic blend of post-punk, shoegaze, and indie rock rooted in the 1990s. Two favorably received EPs plus an earlier album secured them a deal with Hardly Art, the label that released their 2019 set 10,000. Vocalist-guitarist Daniel Salas, guitarist Graham Baker, bassist Kirby Lochner, and drummer Max Keyes had first crossed paths while attending the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, and later shifted their base to Seattle. Their opening release, the seven-track Nude Descending EP, combined sharp hooks with forceful dynamics and drew on the guitar-pop style associated with vintage Flying Nun recordings. That fondness for New Zealand pop surfaced again on the 2017 Tape EP, which featured a version of the Clean’s “The Blue.” By September of the same year the group had finished its first long-player, Nirvana, issued on the regional independent Decency Den Records. Twelve months afterward Versing moved to Sub Pop’s Hardly Art subsidiary and put out the single “Silver Dollar.” Their second album, 10,000, appeared in May 2019.