Before first gig, Versio Curs creates a top-notch album
Versio Curs’ first gig is happening this Wednesday, the opening slot on a five-band-bill at a basement show in Franklin.
But before it plays live for the first time, the alt-rock quintet is already a top band to keep an eye on in the local scene.
“How Are You,” Versio Curs’ debut album, arrived in February. Assured and absorbing, it’s one of the strongest releases from a Milwaukee band this year.
This wasn’t a case of remarkable beginner’s luck. Four of the five members were in a band when they were teenagers, but they never played a show. Their latest collaboration benefits from dynamic dual guitars, with Joe Kelnhofer creating hazy riffs to contrast George Kuether’s harsher, driving aesthetic. Then there are the compelling, confessional lyrics, in the vein of Conor Oberst, from frontman Kyle Halverson. His magnetizing voice finds a sweet spot between David Bazan’s sweet, humble croon and Protomartyr singer Joe Casey’s blasé, at times disdainful, tone.
Who’s who: Josh Ehlke (drums); Halverson (vocals); Alex Hardy (bass); Kelnhofer (guitar), Kuether (guitar).
Band name backstory: Kuether: Curs is dog, and Versio in Latin means spinning or turning, so we’re basically like spinning dogs, like dogs who chase their tails. I don’t know if you’ve had to name a band before, but it’s probably the hardest thing we’ve ever done.
Early experiences: Kelnhofer: George and I met in first grade. The first day he came in, he was new to the school and came in crying, so I sat down next to him and told him, “Hi, I’m Joe. Don’t cry.”
Kuether: Kyle was a friend of my cousin’s, and now he’s our friend. Alex went to high school with us, and Josh we met in high school as well. He’s a bit younger than us, but we’ve been making music together since he was 13. We made a full-length album in high school, with the band name Clearview but never did anything with it. It was like this but significantly worse.
Becoming Versio Curs: Kuether: Most of us left for college in 2011 and didn’t do anything together. About two years ago, I started writing stuff and was like, ‘All right Joe, it’s time to start doing this again,” and he sent stuff to Kyle. We used to write angry alternative songs with minor chords. Now everything is major scale and happier sounding.
Halverson: It’s a better contrast. My lyrics are not the happiest lyrics, so it’s cool to have danceable music with whatever I wanted to write.
Standout song: Kelnhofer: The demo that we originally wrote (for “On Sunday”) we didn’t really like.
Kuether: But (Halverson) was like, “I love this you guys,” and (after he wrote the lyrics) I was like, “Holy crap, this is the best song ever.”
Halverson: Very rarely do I sit down and write a song all at once. It’s happened once or twice, and that song was one that unfolded generally a little easier. I’m attracted more to those songs. I was thinking of a way to write where I was complaining about relationships, but I didn’t want to make it too dense or abstract.
Kuether: The second verse spells it out well: “Let someone kill you/Be the ghost/Get into costume/Play the role.”
Halverson: The song’s about doing what you want.
Plans for the future: Kuether: When we released the album, we had no plan at all. But people were like, “This is pretty good. You have to play a show.”
Kelnhofer: So we had to relearn some of the parts, but we’ve been practicing so much.
Kuether: We have a couple no-pressure basement shows coming up. We’re playing Frank’s Power Plant in July and Summerfest’s (unofficial) Rebel Stage at 5 p.m. June 30. A couple touring bands reached out and asked if we wanted to do these shows and were like, “Yeah, I guess.” We’d love to do some touring. If it happens, it happens. We’d like to try and go as far as we can with this.
Watch two exclusive performances from Versio Curs at jsonline.com/ music. Sound Check appears the 15th of each month online and in the Journal Sentinel.