VERMA
SUNRUNNER (TROUBLE IN MIND)
Chicago's own psychedelic explorers, Verma are back with their first proper full-length offering since the band's self-released 'Exu' album (not counting, of course the 'Coltan' LP - conceived as a soundtrack to a VICE web series & released on vinyl by us here at Trouble In Mind in 2013).
"Sunrunner" finds the band veering back towards the cosmic (or 'kosmiche'), song-oriented compositions without sacrificing their sharply-honed talents for improvisation in the studio, culling together their tightest suite of tunes to date.
"Regolith" opens up the album with buzzing feedback, as a roaring guitar line kicks in like an air-raid siren before the song's propulsive engines erase you from existence.
'Sunrunner' tarries back & forth nimbly between the opener & "Chrome"s rocket-fueled reverberations & the soothing sways of songs like the instrumental alien pulse of 'Erato' & the soaring title track that closes unrunner', gliding off into the outer reaches of Earth's atmosphere.
The album flows past you before you even realize, a true testament to the musical synergy & talents of the band, who form an almost symbiotic relationship in the live setting, capturing & documenting their psychic bond on "Sunrunner" The swiring, layered loops of Johnny Caluya's guitar mesh seamlessly with the interstellar drones & throbs ebbing from Whitney Johnson's Acetone, but the real secret weapon of unrunner' lies in the rhythm section of bassist Rob Goerke & drummer Zach Corn's locked-tight grooves that pulse steadily & subtly like all great rhythm sections are supposed to, providing a rubbery backbone that supports the albums seven tunes.