Veronica Falls - Waiting For Something To Happen

Veronica Falls returned earlier this year with ‘Waiting For Something To Happen’, the follow up to their self-titled debut. This week, TT decided to check out what the indie-surf lovelies had been up to. In short: - relationships. This album is a great collection of crisp pop songs, of which, the lyrical content delves into the two and fro of the everyday complexities of relationships.

‘Tell Me’ opens the album and really sets the tone for what is to follow. It is littered with pitch perfect vocal harmonies which fans of Camera Obscura will adore. The flawless nature of the vocals lends ‘Tell Me’ an eerie feeling. They are so perfect that it suggests the protagonist is damaged beneath the surface and if we scratch away at the lyrical fabric of ‘Tell Me’ it is clear to see that this is the case. The opening verse portrays the desperate half of a relationship trying to garner where they stand:

‘Tell me, tell me everything / Tell me if your boat is sinking / Tell me where you have been / Tell me, tell me everything’

‘Waiting For Something To Happen’ is another fine exponent of relationship woes, this time reflecting how sometimes, one member is the driving force behind everything the couple do, whilst the other needs to be shook into life:

‘If you don’t realise / There’s no sacrifice / If you feel the way I do / World won’t wait for you’

TT is struggling to remember if anyone has ever produced lyrics which really get at the average relationship so well. The British public love songs about the big gesture (Elbow – ‘One Day Like’ This or The Smiths – ‘There is a Light That Never Goes Out’). Well, now is the time for a healthy dose of the truth as banal but intricate power struggles between couples are brought to life.

Former single ‘Teenage’ witnesses the band going to the next level. It sounds a little bit like Slade’s ‘Cum On Feel The Noise’ being covered by The Pastels. As Spring is threatening to kick in, there is no better time to listen to this sun-drenched piece of majesty. The voice of lead vocalist, Roxanne Clifford, has such an innocence to it that the simple lyrics: ‘When are you gonna see / I carved your name in the cherry tree / From the window when you look outside / I’ll be there you know I wont hide’ gets across the uncontrollable intensity we all brought matters of the heart as teenagers.

As we have discussed, the discourse for a lot of the songs on ‘Waiting For Something to Happen’ is centred around love and what it actually does to people in relationships. Then comes ‘Buried Alive’. Never has song encapsulated the isolation and torment that heartbreak can bring to a teenager. This tune comes from deepest murkiest parts of the stomach that ache so much when you go through the pain of something you don’t understand.

This second helping from Veronica Falls is sublime success and deserves all the plaudits it receives. Much like the Maccabees, they have perfected the sound they set out to achieve on their debut by their second album. Here’s hoping for that big sounding record on album no. 3 which catapults them into the consciousness of bigger audiences.