Phonotonal

Veer
Something About You EP

The phrase ‘rock with a funk edge’, quite frankly, strikes terror into the core of my palpitating heart. This is predominantly the fault of the plethora of shoddy bands that want to play rock but can’t find the right line-up. Half the band are normally heading north and rest are trotting off east. The usual result, as we have all witnessed, is a collection of rock songs with ‘a funky bit in the middle’ and it’s shit.

However, if all the musicians are pulling in the same direction and it just happens to be north-east, things are altogether different. ‘Something About You’ just happens to be one such cross-country camping trip and Veer are our map-readers.

The guitars competently spill a lick over sensible bass and wonderful drums and things are looking good already, even before the husky vocals take their place in the mix. It’s not quite as indie as the Spin Doctors and it isn’t as rocky as Faith No More, but it’s definitely in the folder marked ‘successful crossover’.

Some strange reference points pop up in the form of Ram-Jam and Deep Purple in the subsequent tracks which see Veer run the risk of getting lost on the moors, but luckily it all works out rather well, especially ‘When You Come Free’.

The seedily titled, ‘When My Bed’s A-Rockin’ is a little lost on this record, sounding like it actually belongs to Los Skeletones rather than this lively Manchester band – but as Meatloaf said, three out of four ain’t bad (give or take some generous rounding).

Written by Smith on

Stuart 'Saur' Smith was a prolific writer for The Mag throughout the magazine's lifetime. He combined a day job of temporary office jobs in London with a nightlife of trawling the capital's music venues looking for talent. As well as writing about music, he was a session musician who featured on a number of singles in the 90s. Today, Stuart is a Chief Writer for Phonotonal.
Stuart Smith

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