Isn’t Lego great? You can build anything your imagination allows you to. But even better is that after you’ve admired your handiwork you can take it apart, start afresh and build something entirely different. Taking the decision to breakup a band and begin a new one doesn’t have the simplicity of Lego bricks but it can be an important step. For Kelan O’Reilly and Conor Walsh of Versive this is the leap they have made.

O’Reilly is previously of ska band The Upgrades (once described by GoldenPlec as “probably the best known unknown band in Dublin”) while Walsh was part of pop punk outfit Downhill. Versive are closer to Downhill’s sound than The Upgrades but retain a much harder edge. A lot of pop punk bands tend to opt for a high pitched singer and it ends up sounding unhealthily sanitized. This won’t be an issue for Versive  as O’Reilly’s vocals provide a much needed grit and heft to proceedings.

Comprising of just three songs the self-titled EP is a short introduction to Versive. Opener Blackout sets out the stall with O’Reilly’s guttural snarl over diesel injected guitars. It packs a punch yet doesn’t lose sight of pop melodies among the beefy riffs.  It’s a start that bodes well, but Haunted‘s Amercianised rock sound is too safe and predictable to really grip you. Restrive has an intro that walks a tightrope teetering on derivative but then pulls out a chorus that keeps it steady. It’s loud, rumbustious and its brashness eventually wins out. Rather than go all out for power throughout it chops and changes pace which gives the song its vibrancy.

Musically, Versive aim big and with their stadium sized riffs, theirs is a sound far removed from what is going on in the Irish music scene. There is some fine tuning required as not everything sticks. Overall the ‘Versive’ EP is hit and miss but when it does smack the target it does so with a rocket launcher.