Secret Swingers

Secret Swingers
Studio album by
Versus
Released1996
GenreIndie rock
LabelTeenBeat/Caroline[1]
ProducerNicolas Vernhes
Versus chronology
Deep Red
(1996) 		Secret Swingers
(1996) 		Two Cents Plus Tax
(1998)

Secret Swingers is an album by the American band Versus, released in 1996.[2][3] The band supported the album by participating in the Caroline All-Stars Fall Tour.[4]

Production

The band added a second guitar player, James Baluyut, prior to the Secret Swingers recordings sessions.[5] The album was produced by Nicolas Vernhes, and was recorded over a month and a half.[6] The album title and many of the songs allude to double lives and secretive relationships.[7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Chicago Sun-Times[8]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[9]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[10]

The Nashville Banner called the album "derivative of Sonic Youth," but wrote that "Versus still manages to bring its fair share of ideas to the table."[11] The Village Voice deemed it "as 'original' as guitar-bass-drums-vocals indie-rock music gets," declaring that "with equal boy and girl intensity, and ecstatic, near-schizophrenic tempo/volume changes, Versus have forged that rare commodity: a 'sound'."[6] The Sunday Times praised Fontaine Toups, writing that she "supplies the kind of motorised bass parts New Order's Peter Hook wouldn't have been ashamed of."[12] The Day noted Versus' "odd guitar tunings, bittersweet vocal harmonies and paranoid lyrics."[13]

AllMusic called the album "a superbly textured set more consistent and eclectic than anything else the band has done to date."[5] Magnet wrote that "Secret Swingers may not have been revolutionary, but like a good inside joke between friends, it stuck around."[14] Reviewing the band's 2010 album, On the Ones and Threes, Pitchfork thought that Versus' two Caroline releases "sound as close as most any other records to a definitive indie rock sound."[15]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Lose That Dress" 
2."Yeah You" 
3."Glitter of Love" 
4."Ghost Story" 
5."Use as Directed" 
6."Double Suicide (Mercy Killing)" 
7."Jealous" 
8."Shower Song" 
9."Angels Rush In" 
10."One Million" 
11."A Heart Is a Diamond" 

References

  1. ^ "Versus". Trouser Press. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Versus Biography & History". AllMusic.
  3. ^ Thompson, Stephen (31 Oct 1996). "More 'Ween Shows Than You Can Wave a Witch's Broom At". Rhythm. Wisconsin State Journal. p. 9.
  4. ^ Stifler, John (5 Sep 1996). "Count 'em, three bands touring". Daily Hampshire Gazette. p. 4.33.
  5. ^ a b c "Secret Swingers". AllMusic.
  6. ^ a b McGonigal, Mike (6 Aug 1996). "Suicide missionaries". The Village Voice. Vol. 41, no. 32. p. 59.
  7. ^ Perry, Jonathan (25 Oct 1996). "Versus: Ethereal pop at a hard-rock pace". Weekend. The State. p. 14.
  8. ^ Williams, Kevin M. (December 1, 1996). "Spin Control". Showcase. Chicago Sun-Times. p. 14.
  9. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 8. MUZE. p. 426.
  10. ^ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1197.
  11. ^ Gray, Michael (24 Oct 1996). "Versus". Nashville Banner. p. C4.
  12. ^ Lee, Stewart (1 Sep 1996). "Versus Secret Swingers Caroline". Features. The Sunday Times. p. 1.
  13. ^ Timberg, Scott (5 Sep 1996). "Plenty of alternatives for alternative rock". Music. The Day. p. 4.
  14. ^ "Lost Classics: Versus "Secret Swingers"". Magnet. February 14, 2009.
  15. ^ "Versus: On the Ones and Threes". Pitchfork.