Resolver Parental Advisory

Amazon.com
Veruca Salt circulated through the late-'90s barrage of one-hit alt-rock bands with the single "Seether," and the number of critics placing bets in favor of the band's longevity was miniscule. But upon the departure of member Nina Gordon, lead singer Louise Post revamped the group, and Resolver beat the odds. The album follows the lead of fellow Chicagoans the Smashing Pumpkins with its monstrous guitars squalling against an explosive rhythm section. This tsunami of sound finds a strange bedfellow with Post's vocals. Immediately she seems a sweet, fuzzy urchin, but her abrasive, sexually charged lyrics and grunge-suited scream reveal a wildly rabid kitten with piercing claws and enormous teeth. Resolver's combination of eerie Pixies-influenced aggression ("Used to Know Her") and Billy Corgan bombast ("Born Entertainer") makes for a supremely satisfying head bang. Best of all, the new and resoundingly improved Veruca Salt have developed a penchant for slightly quieter songs like "Disconnected," where Post's utterly unseething, almost exhausted voice carves a wide space between unproduced drums and orchestral instrumentation, resulting in a moment of fierce beauty. --Beth Massa

Reader Reviews
Honestly, Resolver was better than I'd thought. I'm a fan of Veruca Salt's from way back in 1994. But starting with Eight Arms to Hold You, I found myself gravitating towards Nina Gordon's songs ("Loneliness Is Worse", "Benjamin") and getting increasingly impatient with the angsty, more experimental approach of Gordon's co-bandleader Louise Post. Now that Post is the sole original member of the band remaining and Gordon's embarked on a hugely impressive solo career, I wasn't having very high hopes for Resolver, Veruca's first album since Gordon's departure. And Resolver does contain the problems that I find with Post's music: Strangeness, dissonance, very frequent lack of structure, clumsy lyrics (and usually too much swearing on the lyrics), too much bitterness. The bottom line is the Post is a very ambitious musician, always pushing, and her reach often exceeds her grasp. But the album did offer up delights: Post's guitar-playing, which has always been stronger than Gordon's, has resulted in some great riffs like that of lead single "Born Entertainer", achieving an almost Smashing Pumpkins kind of grandeur. Too bad the lyrics are juvenile, heavy on rage and invective, but hookless and awkward. Same for the next three tracks, "Best You Can Get", "Wet Suit" and "Yeah Man". At times Post's phrasing is so strange that you just have to laugh; it's hard to tell how seriously you're supposed to take it. The sound of the record is generally good, producer Brian Liesegang (and Post) achieving a sound that crosses the murky, garage-pop intimacy of American Thighs with the metallic grandeur of Eight Arms to Hold You. But on the sonic level Post has acquired an intensely annoying habit: The whisper-singing. It's been a trademark of some of Veruca Salt's quiet-loud songs of the past (eg. "Victrola"), but on Resolver Post employs this gimmick on nearly every song, and to be honest, I think it sounds terrible, like the mix is thin, or like Post is singing from her nose instead of her vocal cords. Post's vocal ability isn't as robust or versatile as Nina Gordon's, and on this album her voice betrays her, mostly sounding shrill and breathy, seriously damaging the harder-rocking songs while sounding just bearable on the softer ones. I think that between Resolver and Gordon's solo album Tonight and the Rest of My Life, previous Veruca Salt fans will probably find Resolver a more faithful re-interpretation of the band's previous sound. If nothing else, Post has successfully captured the guitar-heavy sound of Veruca Salt's past, and if you liked Post's previous songs like "Venus Man Trap" (again, that whisper device, the wandering structure), you'll like Resolver. My own recommendation is for Tonight and the Rest of My Life.  Comment | Permalink |  (Report this)


Back To Top