Teen-Beat. Versus.

Versus is an American indie rock band formed in 1990 by Richard Baluyut, Fontaine Toups and Edward Baluyut in New York City. Richard and Fontaine were to remain the two core members throughout the band's history.

The band was noted for their marriage of indie pop songwriting and vocal harmonies to the "loud-soft" dynamics of grunge and alternative rock. They were also noted for their proficient and disciplined musicianship and for their credo of "meat, sports and rock", neither of which had much currency in the early 1990s American indie scene. They named themselves after the Mission of Burma album Vs.

RELATED ARTISTS

FLOWER (Ed/Richard)

THE FONTAINE TOUPS/T.F.T. (Fontaine)

THE PACIFIC OCEAN (Ed)

+/- {PLUS/MINUS} (James/Patrick)

WHYSALL LANE (Richard)

VERSUS Oriental American Wallflower 7-inch vinyl 45

VERSUS, band, Edward Baluyut, Richard Baluyut, Janet Fontaine Toups

Ed, Fontaine, Richard [L to R]
Photo by [unknown]

VERSUS, band, Richard Baluyut, Janet Fontaine Toups

Richard and Fontaine
Photo by Mei Tao

Fontaine
performing at the Indie Rock Flea Market, Arlington, Virigina
Photo by Kurt Calloway?

VERSUS, band, James Baluyut, Edward Baluyut, Richard Baluyut, Janet Fontaine Toups

James, Ed, Richard, Fontaine
Photo by Mei Tao

VERSUS, band, James Baluyut, Richard Baluyut, Janet Fontaine Toups

James, Richard, Fontaine
Photo by [unknown]

Fontaine and Richard
Photo by Mei Tao

PRIMARY MEMBERS

Richard Baluyut,

Fontaine Toups

LONG-TIME ROADIE

Jeff Cashvan

RECORD LABELS ASSOCIATED WITH

Caroline,
Merge,
Teen-Beat

RICHARD'S LABEL

Remora

FILM

FALLOW

Performed live at Teen-Beat 373, at the Black Cat, Washington, D.C., February, 2005.

FROG

Performed live at Rudyards, Houston, Texas, 2000.

BIOGRAPHY

New York City indie rock favorites Versus evolved from the remnants of Flower, a band led by singer/guitarist Richard Baluyut. In the final months of Flower's existence, the group was joined by vocalist/guitarist Fontaine Toups, who remained with Baluyut in the short-lived Saturnine before the duo formed Versus (borrowing the name from an LP by Mission of Burma) with Baluyut's brother Ed. After playing their first shows with a lineup comprised of three guitars and a drum machine, Ed Baluyut relocated to the Philippines, and Toups switched over to bass; upon Ed's return, he assumed drumming duties, and Versus issued their 1992 debut single, "Insomnia." In 1993, the trio issued the stellar EP Let's Electrify!, a taut, melodic collection spotlighting intricate, dissonant guitar work and odd harmonies. After signing to the Teen Beat label, Versus issued their 1994 full-length debut, The Stars Are Insane (originally titled Meat, Sports and Rock, three subjects the band ardently supported, much to the dismay of the prevailing indie-scene mentality of the moment). A collection of singles, compilation tracks, and demos titled Dead Leaves appeared in 1995, followed in early 1996 by the EP Deep Red. Another Baluyut brother, James, signed on for the 1996 LP Secret Swingers; the album was also Ed's last, with new drummer Patrick Ramos enlisting for 1998's Two Cents Plus Tax. The Afterglow EP followed on Merge Records a year later, and in 2000 Versus returned with the EP Shangri-La and the band's fifth studio effort, Hurrah. The group took an extended break for the majority of the 2000s before finally reuniting for 2010's On the Ones and Threes, which featured the return of original drummer Ed Baluyut.

- Jason Ankeny, All Music

DISCOGRAPHY

SINGLES

Astronaut
Bright Light
split single with Scrawl
Frog
Big Head On
Glitter of Love
Yeah You
Oriental American/Wallflower
split single with Unwound
Drawn and Quartered
Shangri-La

ALBUMS

Let's Electrify
The Stars Are Insane
Deep Red
Secret Swingers
Two Cents Plus Tax
Afterglow
Hurrah
On the Ones and Threes No.1
On the Ones and Threes No.2

COMPILATIONS

Stars Kill Rock
Wakefield: Volume 1
A Day in the Park
Wakefield: Volume 2
Wakefield: Volume 3
Wakefield: The Teen-Beat Boxed Set
A Means to An End, The Music of Joy Division
Venue Compilation '95
Ear of the Dragon
Yoyo a Go-Go
Project Echo
How Low Can a Punk Get?
CMJ New Music Vol.36
1996 Teenbeat Sampler
1997 Teenbeat Sampler
Selector Dub Narcotic
1998 Teenbeat Sampler
More of Our Stupid Noise '98
CMJ New Music Vol.59
1999 Teenbeat Sampler
2000 Teenbeat Sampler
2001 Teenbeat Sampler
2002 Teenbeat Sampler
Old Enough 2 Know Better
Teen-Beat 20th Commemorative
Joy Division
Score! Twenty Years of Merge Records
2010 Teen-Beat / Other Music Sampler

SOUNTRACKS

Half-Cocked

ALSO

Versus tee-shirt
Teen-Beat's 10th Anniversary
Dead Leaves porcelain coffee mug
Teen-Beat's 11th Anniversary
Teen-Beat's 13th Anniversary
Teen-Beat's 15th Anniversary
Teen-Beat's 20th Anniversary Commemorative
Teen-Beat Graphica Exhibition
UNREST: Teen-Beat 26th Anniversary

Containe
Flower
The Fontaine Toups (T.F.T.)
The Pacific Ocean
+/- {Plus/Minus}
Whysall Lane

SONGS

A Heart is a Diamond
All In Doubt
Angels Rush In
Another Face
Astronaut
Atomic Kid
Be-9
Big Head On
Blade Of Grass
Blue Again (F.T.)
Blue Again (Ricardo)
Bright Light
Cicada
Circle
Crashing the Afterglow
Crazy
Crazy Maker (I'm Still in Love With Your Eyes)
Cross the Street
Dead City
Death Ray
Deep Red
Deseret
Double Suicide (Mercy Killing)
Dumb Fun
Erstwhile
Eskimo
Frederick's of Hollywood
Fallow
Flax
Forest Fire
Frog
Ghost Story
Glitter Of Love
Go Tell It on the Mountain
Gone to Earth
Hacienda
I'll Be You
I Love the WB
Insomnia
Into Blue
Invincible Hero
Jack & Jill
Janet
Jealous
Knead
Know Nothing
Let's Electrify!
Linus
Lose That Dress
Lost Time
Mercury
Mermaid Legs
Merry-Go-Round
Mirror Mirror
Morning Glory
Mouth of Heaven
My Adidas
Neither Nor
Never Be OK
N.I.T.A.
Noogie
Nu Skin
Off The Hook
Office Rocker
One Million
Oriental American
The Ones and Threes
Out in the Streets
Pink Valhalla
Play Dead
Radar Follows You
Raining
Reveille
River
Said Too Much
Santa Maria
Saturday Saints
Sayonara
Scientists
Sea Girl
Seaweed Rising
Shangri-La
Shangri-La [E.L.O.]
Shangri-La [Kinks]
She's So Lost
Shooting Star
Shower Song
Silver Vein
Solar Democrat
Spastic Reaction
The Spell You're Under
Sunburned
Sunlight Flier
That Girl's Gone
Thera
Tin Foil Star
True Believer
Twenty Four Hours
Underground
Underground (Gallery Redux)
Use As Directed
Venus Victoria
Walkabout
Wallflower
We Got the Missles
White Power Porch
Wind Me Up
Yeah You
You Should Call Me
You'll Be Sorry

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