Labels: Init
Review by: Alex Deller
The Spirit of Versailles occupy a space in my musical memory shared by the likes of Saetia and Portrait, straddling a dividing line between the older mid 90s emo bands and the nascent Witching Hour sound that was skulking in shadows and working its evil magic. More shrieked and intense than the majority of the older emo acts, but not as chaotically madcap as Usurp Synapse or their kin, the Spirit of Versailles flew the hand-stitched emo flag while many of their peers were investing in ever more bollock-strangling trousers and tacky Casio keyboards. Here then, collated and sweetly bundled by Init Records, stands what I assume is their entire recorded output “” 29 songs culled from 7″s, CDs, a radio show and a couple of unreleased odds and sods to boot.
At their best, Spirit of Versailles could well have been the logical successors to Constantine Sankathi’s throne: all sloppy, jangled melodies and hoarsely yelled paeans to heartbreak that more often than not mentioned tears, pain or dying. This was where Versailles hit paydirt, riding out huge screamy emo anthems that doubtless caused a Mexican wave of t-shirt tugging from basement to basement. As is the way with such complete discographies, wheat and chaff nestle side by side. Not only do we have the joy of “There Goes Rhymin’ Simon” and “Exorcism At Moon River”, but also the dubious privilege of hearing the band’s earliest material, featuring vocals somewhere between air being let out of a balloon and Alvin Chipmunk being tormented with syringes full of window cleaner. Time has not been particularly kind to these numbers, and I’m liable to be even unkinder, so it’s for the best that this more odious material resides on the second disc where it can be ignored, and spun on occasion for the decent enough radio appearance tacked on the end.
As a eulogy this collection provides a fond enough reminder of how great this band could be. All the thrills you need are on the first cd, which warrants purchase alone, whilst what is to be found on the second disc is for nit-picking curiosity seekers and those with more tolerance than I.