This band is four ladies who produce a gorgeous brand of haunting, powerful atmospheric rock. Their high, breathy, harmonic vocals are a perfect match for the uneasy, disquieted sounds they generate, and there are long periods of instrument-only work. They full-on jam out, not afraid to throw their considerable prowess with their weapons of choice on the table for all to hear. Highly enjoyable on many different levels. - IMPACT Press (Spring '06)
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The Weather Inside is stormy, up close, and certainly not predicted in most mainstream meteorologic models, but Id leave the umbrella at home nonetheless. This kind of exposure is refreshing. - Ryan Schmidt, Zeromag.com (04.03.06)
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This all-lady band creates rich rock sounds with harmonies from Jess Congdon and Esther Reyes that are near divine. The opening "Code Orange" is downplayed but still brings to mind Mazzy Star after listening to some harder rock bands and riffs from Congdon and Reyes that are buried in the mix. The Cure also seems to be a logical comparison with a darker, murky "Walkie Talkie" that rides the bass groove from the onset before the chorus reaches a fantastic crescendo. And it just continues to build off that. Brilliant! - Jason MacNeil, PopMatters (03.03.06)
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Mental meteorology: the shifting patterns of the psyche, between mists, halcyon days, and downpours, provide an apt name for this newest collection of songs from SF-based quartet Vervein. The album's cover image, in which sunlight glimmers through tree branches onto a loose linen weave, is a perfect indicator of the quartet's expressionist sensibility, and the way their music seeks to convey mood (as distinct from drama). - Rebecca Johnson, West Coast Performer Magazine (03.01.06)
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At times this female foursome deliciously casts allusions to the chaotic distorted pop of My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Lush, Sonic Youth and Smashing Pumpkins without coming on like plagiarists... Best listened to at a ridiculously loud noise level. - Glitter Gutter Trash, Slug Magazine (02.04.06)
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Bay Area space/dream pop band Vervein, who recently toured the West Coast with American Analog Set, appear poised on the brink of much-deserved broader notoriety with their excellent second LP, The Weather Inside. The hallmarks are all there: ever-present reverb, soft/loud section swaps, dual female vocals and dynamics as far as the eye can see. Yet the precision and excitement with which Vervein uses these beloved tools makes them a loyal favorite of the lucky few who happen upon their albums and live set. - Rooney, Slightly Confusing to a Stranger (01.26.06)
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The Weather Inside, the band's second full-length, opens with Jess Congdon's voice ringing clear on the celestial "Code Orange," with a cascading wall of guitar, bass and drums that only hints at the songs to come. The instrumental interlude "Pelican" storms in like a bursting thundercloud at the crunchier, thrashier end of shoegaze. The melody belongs to Esther Reyes's cello, like a tree bending in a storm. The songs flip in and out on themselves, changing time signatures and incorporating bridges, codas and crescendos that are unpredictable and striking, much like the arrangement antics Radiohead often go for. Though Reyes also plays guitar on other tracks, it's her cello that rips your heart out. The careening guitars, gorgeous cello and clattering, gripping drumming of Emily Marsh all come together to create a world of sound that feels forbidden and deliciously secret. - Lee Fullington, Prefix Magazine (01.11.06)
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While the rest of the world was stuck listening to the same old noise this year from the usual culprits like the Dave Matthews Band and Mariah Carey, we here in the Bay Area once again got to spoil our ears by indulging in tunes that were truly innovative, genre bending and perfectly thrilling... This is the album to give to those friends that insist music just isn't that good anymore. Shot through with the sort of heart-tugging bass lines and sleepy-eyed vocals that made the Breeders famous, it's not so much a flashback as a flash of inspiration. - Aidin Vaziri, San Francisco Chronicle (12.27.05)
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Stunning selection of CDs for 2005