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Smarter than Blink-182 and certainly far less juvenile,
Vera Zero (http://www.verazero.com) are daring to make the pop-punk genre
listenable again. The Blink-182 comparison isn't lazy journalism; there are
times when vocalist/guitarist Rob Kerr does recall Tom DeLonge and Mark
Hoppus. The biggest difference being that Kerr isn't annoying. Much of that
has to do with his songwriting, which avoids those smirking adolescent
moments and toilet jokes.
"So What?" pokes fun at the current
alternative-rock climate, so many groups sounding too much alike. The melodic
push and pull of fuzzy guitars display a pretty definite early '90s
influence, reminiscent of Green Day but more along the lines of that band's
criminally underrated major-label follow-up, "Insomniac." In fact,
the toe-tapping "I Bleed" could've fit onto "Insomniac"
as well, somewhere between the driving hard-rock rhythms of "Geek Stink
Breath" and the pogoing pop of "Walking Contradiction."
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On "The Heart of Midlothian," Vera Zero
shift direction, offering a moving tune of romantic isolation that's as
effective and sensitive as Weezer's forays into lovelorn confessions. They
pick up the charge again on the smoking title cut with its wall-slamming glam
riffs and machine-gun drums, ending this impressive five-cut EP with the punk
attack of "Around the World."
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