Review Summary: A little bit like if the Beach Boys were slightly miserable ghosts…
Veronica Falls’ first LP, eponymously titled, doesn’t really bring much new to the field of jangly, reverb-laden indie pop, but doesn’t do much to disappoint fans of such a genre, either.
Veronica Falls is a 36 minute slice of polished, concise and catchy guitar pop, familiar but in the friendliest sense of the word.
Its 12 brief tracks are unlikely to set the music press on fire in regards to fresh ideas or a hugely unique identity, but that doesn’t translate to much when the music is as well executed as it is here. Taking a slightly downtrodden approach, in terms of lyrics and music,
Veronica Falls’ sound is divided between lighter, ‘janglier’ affairs and marginally harder rocking cuts, both swimming in pools of reverb and hooky song writing.
Apart from catchy song writing, such as the “I’ve got a bad feeling” hook on the superb ‘Bad Feeling’ and ‘Stephen’s general pretty pop breeze, the Scottish outfit demonstrate smarts when it comes to following a formula which they know they handle well. The soft, slightly detached female vocals of Roxanne Clifford are backed by the boys of the group, meshing together in the echoed cauldron of jangly pop. The two elements play off each other well, adding identity and style to the group, and given the slightly grey, detached vocals and lyrics, and the reverb-sprinkled production, come off as sounding almost like a ghostly Beach Boys in a very vague but satisfying way.
It all comes together rather well come the end of the disc. It’s all very consistent and catchy; there’s some belting little numbers that demand several listens (‘The Fountain’, ‘Misery’, ‘Stephen’, ‘Bad Feeling’, to name a few) and at a brief 36 minutes, it feels polished and streamlined – no fat on its bones, if you will. Still, given the short runtime, Veronica Falls does begin to seem a little samey towards the tail end, and one can’t help but feel a little more diversity and distinction between the tracks would make for a noticeably stronger listen.
Veronica Falls, to lay it out simply and concisely, is a rapid, enjoyable burst of jangly indie pop, well-executed and mostly satisfying. It does nothing new and a little more diversity would help the outfit grow, but when push comes to shove, Veronica Falls show they have a lot of potential to grow into an influenced and adept indie pop band with their debut album, and that’s merely because there’s a lot to love across it 12 tracks width.
