AU - Versions

Like learning a new word, before you use it you have to learn how to say and spell it, so before I get into Versions, a little about AU's pronunciation and spelling. Pronounce it "a-u", like the two separate letters it consists of (A, U), or like you're trying to get someone's attention while speaking in a bad imitation of a cockney accent, "'ay you", but not like the word 'au', as in 'au revoir' or 'au gratin', like you're a snooty, stinky french chef. Also, keep it in all caps: AU, like the postal abbreviation for Australia, but they aren't from there.

The bass drum beats like a heart beat on "Ida Walked Away", the first track of Versions, letting you know, this album's got some life to it, coincidentally, some "Death" too. The EP runs the gamut emotionally and musically, yet keeps it cohesive and concise. Upbeat percussion created with the aid of a shaker or two, familiar clicks of a snare's rim, some bells, and, of course, some, almost inevitable claps, propel Versions consistently from start to finish at such a rapid, but not rushed, speed that it ends before you even realized there was a song switch. The quick-listen may also be as a result of the short track list on the latest effort by the two men who make up AU (Luke Wyland and Dana Valatka). At only 7 songs, there's no time for a wasted beat or breath, and waste they don't, but want you will. Fortunately it definitely warrants a second, and third and fourth, listen.

Give Versions another spin, if only to decipher the lyrics, which are delivered in vocals that are, at times, hauntingly ghostly yet substantial, not ethereal, like a ghost with some girth, think - Grizzly Bear with a little more grizzle. At other times, AU sings out with yelps and screams (Au "Are Animals" afterall) that could knock the inhibitions off even the most conservative of listeners, and by the end of the album find them chanting, foot stomping, and air punching along to "Ashemoto Ne" even if they haven't a clue what it means, think - that one time you drank a bit too much at the Akron/Family show. Versions is lively with some edge and experimentation about it, by musicians who you won't mind lending your ears, or Friday nights, to.

Place well-played piano and rim shots in an album and I'm pretty much sold, tell me the band's from Portland and oh shit, there goes my soul too, but AU's Versions actually deserves the praise, or at least a listen. Listen
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