Veronica Falls: Waiting For Something To Happen (2013)

Veronica Falls appeared in the early '10s and disappeared all too quickly, leaving behind just a couple albums, as well as a couple covers-only EPs.  Which is too bad, because their second and final album showed a lot of progress and a ton of promise.

Their sound was reminiscent of some of the early female-fronted Britpop/shoegaze bands like the Darling Buds and the Primitives, but with more of a restrained, lo-fi indie rock sound.  It gels on Waiting for Something to Happen, with a fistful of insistently poppy tracks with just a shade of darkness and tension.  Lead-off track "Tell Me" has a simple, jangly guitar riff that calls to mind the Feelies (more specifically Feelies-related band Speed the Plough) or maybe New Zealand's indie rock bands of the Flying Nun label.  It's absolutely killer.  This is followed by "Teenage," which draws a bit more from those Britpop bands with some retro-girl group flavor; another great tune.

Plenty of other great songs throughout; "If You Still Want Me" is another one that calls to mind the sound of New Zealand's Bats, while "My Heart Beats" is all sorts of fuzzy pop.  But seriously, this thing is top notch from start to finish, not a bum track to be found.  Definitely the sort of album that leaves you both excited by its low-key vibrancy and disappointed that it was to be their last.  (Meanwhile, singer Roxanne Clifford released an album earlier this year as Patience called Dizzy Spells; it's a dramatic departure, with a retro-New Wave synth sound that calls to mind bands like Book of Love -- check it out.)

Here's the video for "Teenage":

And here's a live take on "Tell Me":