+/- /whysall lane
saturday, july 7, 2002 • chop suey, seattle wa • review & pics by janice


review: I love Versus. Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em! And, oddly enough, I recently went on a little Versus-kick where I was listening to their CDs and falling in love all over again. So, how uncanny that the two Versus side projects should roll through my little town last week?

First up is Whysall Lane, which is Richard Baluyut, a former Jawbreaker (Adam Phfaler) and Mikel Delgado from Little Deaths. Apparently, Richard lives in San Francisco now, which is why Versus is kind-of on "hiatus". (And, apparently, there's a "little Richard on the way" as he put it! If you mean a baby and not a drug-damaged piano player, then congratulations!!!)

I hate to say it, but I didn't care much for Whysall Lane. That pains me to write, but I gotta be honest. There was one very slow song where Richard sang, "What's in a name?/What's in a name?/Whysall Lane/Whysall Lane" and I just cringed and cringed for him! I hate it when bands use their name in a song. It's so Wang Chun. Plus, while Mikel is a fine bass player, her singing was pretty unbearable. And then they closed their set with a cover of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence". Depeche Mode covers?!? Yikes. And he couldn't even remember the lyrics either. He had to read 'em off a piece of paper.

So, next were +/- which is James Baluyut and Patrick Ramos from Versus. I heard one of their songs on the radio (titled "Yo Yo Yo (Please Don't Fall In Love)") and had a good laugh. It gave me the impression that maybe all their songs were electro-pop in that Magnetic-Fields-vein, and when Pat came out and started the set with some minimalist keyboard work, it confirmed my feeling. But then, holy cow, the guitars kicked in, the energy shot up, and really, it felt like Versus all over again!

The songs sound very different when performed live, and I read that when James recruited drummer Chris Deaner and bassist Margaret McCartney (of Tuscadero/Hot Pursuit), the arrangements were modified to make the live show more interesting than just James performing to some backing tapes. (Margaret was actually absent from the Seattle show, but her position was ably filled by Wyatt Cusick of Track Star.) I think the result was successful, as seeing them live was completely enthralling! They so completely rocked.

And James' on-stage banter was freakin' hilarious! After the first song, he pointed to his monitor and said to the soundguy, "I need a little more...me" which made the audience snicker. So he continued, "If I had more me...I wouldn't need anyone else". Ha! He was completely charming and witty, unlike Mykel from Whysall Lane with her embarassing on-stage banter. (When James went on stage to help out on keyboards, she made some lame comment about him "tinkling the ivories." Ugh.)