Hailing from Santa Barbara, Californ-I-A, pop punk rock band Versus the World has dropped their much-anticipated second album Drink.Sing.Live.Love. in early 2012 after a seven-year hiatus. Their first self-titled album was the more aggressive of the two; Drink.Sing.Live.Love. is calmer and more mellowed out. The first album made me think of Bayside and The Almost, while Drink.Sing.Live.Love. is more like Fall Out Boy, All Time Low, and Taking Back Sunday. Versus the World formed in the back of the Ataris-owned record store called Down On Haley in Santa Barbara, and they released their self-titled album on Kung Fu Records. They then toured with Suicide Machines, Bouncing Souls, The Lawrence Arms, Social Distortion, No Use For A Name, The Vandals, I Am The Avalanche, and the Vans Warped Tour while building up a fan base at the same time.
Drink.Sing.Live.Love. was produced by Thom Flowers (The Ataris) and mixed by Ian MacGregor (All American Rejects, Katy Perry), and soon after they were signed to Viking Funeral Records, a label started by Fletcher Dragge of Pennywise.
The album pulls from a couple of genres, mainly hardcore and punk. By far my favorite on the album is their hit, “A Fond Farewell” (the video can be found below). This particular song makes me think of Fall Out Boy, especially in the repetition of “Hallelujah, I ain’t young but I ain’t dead yet, I’ve got more promise than regret, so I sing, Hallelujah” towards the end. “The Kids are F*cked” is another one with high resemblance to FOB. The guitar riffs and drums are similar, and the vocals hold a resemblance to Patrick Stump, FOB’s front man. “Donner Pass” is yet another one of my favorites on the album- I love the tempo change in the middle, how angsty the vocals are at the end of the song, and how well it goes with classic punk drum beat. Following “Donner Pass”, “Angry February” goes into a slow, bluesy, rockabilly ballad, which is an excellent switch-up from the latter and compliments the album beautifully.
I am honestly in love with this album, even after listening to it on repeat while writing this review. I’d say that’s a good sign to all you readers, and I definitely recommend to give both this and their prior album a listen, (I love “Medillin” off the self titled album). They are on tour this fall with MxPx and Unwritten Law; check out some of the dates below and hit them up!
Tour Dates:
Versus The World Tour Dates (w/MXPX, Unwritten Law):
Oct 29 – Columbia, SC – New Brookland Tavern
Oct 31 – Charlotte, NC – The Milestone
Nov 1 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar
Nov 2 – Allentown, PA – Crocodile Rock
Nov 3 – Worcester, MA – The Palladium
Nov 4 – Rochester, NY – Water Street Music Hall
Nov 6 – Cleveland Heights, OH – Grog Shop
Nov 7 – Detroit, MI – Shelter
Nov 8 – Chicago, IL – The Bottom Lounge
Nov 9 – St. Louis, MO – Firebird
Members:
Donald Spence- Vocals & Guitar
Chris Flippin- Guitar
Mike Davenport- Bass
Bryan Charlson- Drums
