Veseria - RLTVTY (Self-Released)

In the two years since their EP, Songs of War, Indianapolis’ Veseria have displayed a tremendous amount of creative growth and maturity, ostensibly taking that one great leap to true originality. For their third full-length, RLTVTY, the band began with a list of twenty-five songs, and gradually pared down to the best of collection, ending in thirteen highly-polished and cared for recordings. Veseria is entirely comfortable combining elements of punk, rock, and folk, and they have never sounded more confident and relaxed in the studio, while showing an attention for detail that, thankfully, doesn’t entirely erase the band’s scrappier edges.

Many of the songs find the band venturing into harder and grittier territory, as on “Zenophobia” and “Wherewithal,” but the chemistry is tight and sparkling. The band’s poppier side is in full force too, and songs like “Wingspan” or “The First Law of Thermodynamics” could have been written by ’90s alt-rock bands such as The Lemonheads and Neutral Milk Hotel. The album closes with a sparse acoustic number, “Exit Interview,” which has a sibling, “Safe in Sleep,” earlier on, and proves Veseria to be a many faceted band while RLTVTY a major leap-forward in creativity and execution.