richard baluyut-fontaine toups-ed baluyut-james baluyut (former)-patrick ramos (former)-robert hale (former)
Influences
mission of burma, kiss, yes
Sounds Like
forest fire -ny, ny mercury lounge 6.18.09
river -ny, ny mercury lounge 6.18.09
radar follows you -manila, philippines 11.08.08
b-9 -shibuya, tokyo 10.25.08
frog-houston 2000
you'll be sorry/shangri-la houston 2000
dumb fun/never be o.k. houston 2000
versus- an indie rock band formed in 1990 by richard baluyut, fontaine toups and edward baluyut in new york city. the band were noted for their marriage of indie pop songwriting and vocal harmonies to the "loud-soft" dynamics of grunge and alternative rock. they were also noted for their proficient and disciplined musicianship and for their credo of "meat, sports and rock", neither of which had much currency in the early 1990s american indie scene.
versus has counted at least one, usually two and sometimes three of the filipino-american baluyut brothers as members throughout its existence, and was perhaps the most prominent example of a wave of american indie bands emerging in the early 1990s which featured asian-american members. merge records was versus' most recent record label, although they have maintained a long involvement with teenbeat records, and released two CDs through caroline records in the mid 1990s.
the band still tours occasionally but has been on a recording hiatus since 2001 when the band broke up for a short period. the members have since moved on to other bands - james baluyut and patrick ramos formed +/-, fontaine toups formed TFT and richard baluyut converted his solo acoustic project whysall lane into a full band. former member edward baluyut has played in the pacific ocean since 1997.
hey guys. awesome set at the mercury lounge, such a great night. i've been waiting a long time to see you play. i was lucky enough to catch "river" (one of my favorite songs) on film, hope you don't mind. the quality is real nice despite the shakes in the beginning. kinda got caught up in the moment. can't wait to see you again july 17th. good luck in the studio, the new tunes sound amazing!
I love you guys, "go tell it on the mountain, when you get home I'll be there" an old song on a 7" of yers' from years ago. I was a little guy at the Corcodile cafe that wanted you to hear that song. that show was incredible. it's good that i can see you play again. thanks for being awesome
IN THE 90'S, I HAD ALL YOUR ALBUMS AND EP'S...I KNEW AND PLAYED ALL THE GUITAR PARTS TO "THE STARS ARE INSANE", ONE OF MY FAVORITE RECORDS EVER. IT'S BEEN YEARS...THE OTHER DAY I PULLED OUT THE "DEEP RED" EP, AND REMINISCED. GREAT, GREAT BAND. THE EPITOME OF WHAT WAS GREAT ABOUT INDIE ROCK AT THAT TIME:YOU, SEBADOH, HELIUM, SUPERCHUNK, THE SWIRLIES, ETC. YOU GUYS ARE THE MOST UNDER-RATED BAND OF THE 90'S..BUT THAT'S A MATTER OF PERCEPTION, I GUESS. GLAD I FOUND YOUR PAGE HERE...LET'S ROCK!
Can you guys post the songs (set- list) that you're performing in Japan? I would love to see what I'm missing and what you've been digging from the back catalog.
Online Now!
