We Versus The Shark: Dirty Versions

When We Versus The Shark writes songs about urban

sprawl ("I Am Scared Of Everything") or werewolves ("Keep It Wolf"), the

paranoid-smartass vibe only helps grease up the cross-channel knife-fight

between guitarists Samantha Paulsen and Luke Fields. The Athens, Georgia

quartet's second album, Dirty Versions, finds it playing to all the right

strengths, though it's still a few steps away from perfecting its balance of

catchiness and Dismemberment Plan-inspired tantrums. For a band addicted to

complex figures and sudden shifts, We Versus The Shark rarely overplays it,

taking just enough time to savor a passage, never enough time for ponderous

flab. When keyboards buzz in, they match the fevered rawness of the guitars ("Dogs"),

as do the vocals, which offer more coordinated yelping than singing. Instead of

dwelling on the band's eccentricity, Dirty Versions fries it alive in sweaty

fretwork and lurching rhythm, constantly hungry for the next scene in this

euphoric nightmare.