The Very Foundation – Small Reserves / 2005 Velvafonic / 7 Tracks / http://www.veryfoundation.com / http://www.velvafonic.com / Reviewed 26 October 2005

There is an interesting sound to The Very Foundation that really makes any attempt to pigeonhole the band useless. In a track like “Small Reserves”, there seems to be a lo-fi sound (along the line of The Stinky Puffs), but with a catchiness in melody that is virtually unheard of in current music. The track’s precursor “Cherry Day” really aligns itself closely with early Mission of Burma, while the tempestuous intensity of “Small Reserve” is just one of the stops that this band makes in the constellation of sounds that really fuel the disc.

With a distorted guitar that really is reminiscent of those in the Butthole Surfers classic “Pepper”, The Very Foundation really scale down their sound to a straight-forward, power-pop (a la Weezer) type of sound. With this continually-shifting style, The Very Foundation move beyond simple singles and hits and into the realm of a cohesive construct that spreads out over thirty-two minutes. There may be tracks that buck the normal sound (for example, the look toward Bright Eyes and The Flaming Lips) during “After Labor Day” but the general sound still seems to lend itself much more to a narrative than just how the band was feeling that day in the studio. The recorded phone call that effectively breaks up the disc into two camps really has much of the same effect of skits in rap albums; the momentum is stifled. Luckily enough, “Sodium Halide” is a straight-forward intense exercise in rock. While the beginnings of “Sodium Halide” may have been on the side of simplisticity, this is only the equivalent of the band warming up. The track ends with a dynamic that has all members of The Very Foundation working at peak efficiency, the most impressive of which are the bas lines placed down by St. Thomas.

Finishing up “Small Reserves” with “Woolen Blue”, The Very Foundation really come forth with one of their most musicially challenging tracks. Outwardly having a jangly, Cure-like sound to the instrumentation, the intense vocals of Michael really provide a constant in a track that is experimental at the least. The screamed-out vocals decline at a time where the guitars are leading up to a musical orgasm. Always challenging and musically intense, The Very Foundation come through with an eclectic brand of rock that rivals that even of “Sandinista”-era Clash. Here’s to hoping that The Very Foundation get the popularity that they deserve following the release of “Small Reserves”

Top Track: Sodium Halide

Rating: 6.5/10

[JMcQ]