Versus - Shangri-La EP
(Merge)
Versus' new EP is a concept record. If you somehow didn't notice that from the
song titles or the EP's press, the word "CONCEPT" is boldly printed both on
the insert and on the disc. The EP has four songs, one original named
"Shangri-La," two covers of songs named "Shangri-La," and a cover of a song
by the Shangri-Las.
The least interesting song is the cover of "Out in the Streets" by the dark,
leather-clad 60s girl-pop group the Shangri-Las. The song is very mellow,
and the only melody is from the guitar and Richard's vocals, backed by
simple simple simple drums, bass, and organ. The vocal delivery is perhaps
overly earnest, but at least they didn't pick "Leader of the Pack" to cover,
the Shangri-Las' signature song (actually, maybe that would have been more
insteresting).
Despite Versus' links to Teenbeat, the other two covers are probably closer
in style to Versus. The first cover is of the Kinks song "Shangri-La" (wait,
I guess you knew that). Although the Kinks still remain largely known for
"You Really Got Me," the blues-influenced two-chord anthem, after that
song, the band's songwriting quickly developed, leading to more cynical social
satires, of which "Shangri-La" is a good example. "Shangri-La," in this case,
is joining the middle class and losing your soul for "a TV set and a radio" with
"a mortgage hanging over his head." Versus' driving, sing-songy delivery fits
the song well, making the most out of the "Shangri-La" chorus. The second
cover is by ELO, a band that started at the tail end of the British Invasion,
owing much to late Beatles records. The song is a lament to lost love. The
pace is slow and drifting with bluesy guitars and lead vocals by Fontaine, "so
sad... I'm getting out of love." Sweet hope is provided in the more upbeat,
fuller 2 minute epilogue to the song, with male vocals from
Mac McCaughan of Superchunk (although I may be wrong, they are uncredited)
singing "I will return to Shangri-La" to take another chance on the love
Fontaine gave up on.
These two "Shangri-Las" fit well into Versus' oeuvre despite their cover-nature;
you get Richard's rocker and Fontaine's ballad, ignoring who the songs were
written by. The original "Shangri-La" Versus gives at the beginning of the EP
is just a very good Versus song. The song does provide an interesting contrast
to the two other "Shangri-Las." Like in the ELO song, "Shangri-La" is a person,
however in this case it is an imaginary, perfect person, not an existing love.
Also, like in the Kinks song, there is also a notion of class. In the Kinks
song, it was essentially making fun of the price paid for joining the middle
class and, in essence, letting money matter. Here, though, the singers are in
the middle class; the "Shangri-La" is a part of the "highrise utopia."
Essentially it is the same struggle though, whereas the Kinks argue that a
life with no money and no responsibilities is preferable to the middle class,
both the singer and the subject of Versus' song acknowldege that only with
money can you escape the mundane of suburbia.
Some of Versus' output on Caroline was less than stellar. If you lost
interest in the band during that time, I hope this review serves to rekindle
some of that. Both the EPs the band has released on Merge have been worth
getting.
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