The Red Verse

The Red Verse, formerly The Reverse, will hold a pre-release party for their new EP No Chance for Romance this Thursday, June 5 at Cafe du Nord. The full album release will be on August 15, but the band and their label Tricycle Records will be making 20 limited edition CDs for sale at this week’s show.

Tricycle co-founder and artist relations rep Julie Schuchard told me in an email that she had been interested in the band after seeing them perform at Cafe du Nord and having them play at Tricycle Presents shows. “I have a soft spot for old country and I could really hear that influence in the music,” she wrote. “It’s unlike anything we have on our roster and I liked the idea of expanding our roster into a new genre.”

The band’s style moves back and forth from a Strokes-influenced prep-rock to 50s-60s Rock and Roll and country, with throwbacks to Elvis and Johnny Cash. The new EP includes four tracks that embody these influences and fills in the spaces that were left by their demo (Love is Just the Middle of a Fight) that was released back when the band was just a two-piece.

For 18 months the band was just singer/guitarist Alex Oneil and drummer Danny Sullivan (of Beulah). But after the recording of Love is Just the Middle of a Fight, they were joined by Allen Davis (of Every Move a Picture) on lead guitar and Andrew Gallucio on bass. At this point they were renamed The Red Verse. - The Bay Bridged

The Red Verse Rewind just a few weeks ago and you might have seen or heard this S.F. indie pop band under a different name. The group changed its name from "the Reverse" to "the Red Verse," starting ... now. It's a good day to make the change, considering that the self-described "illegitimate love child of Johnny Cash and the Strokes" celebrates its Tricycle Records CD release tonight at Cafe Du Nord. The first verse of their story began in 2004 when singer Alex Oneil was living in Los Angeles and looking for inspiration. Naturally, he made the smart choice and left for San Francisco. "It was my first night in town and a roommate suggested I listen to 'Yoko' by Beulah while unpacking," says Oneil of his introduction to the late great S.F. band. Soon after meeting Danny Sullivan, Oneil used the fateful anecdote to lure the ex-Beulah drummer to back him up on "one song for a show I gotta do." Oneil left out the part that the one show was an open mike night. "I signed us up under the slot of #32," Oneil says. "It had been up to this point an evening dominated by terribly somber spoken word acts with the occasional drifter on a ukulele." When it was his turn, Oneil called everyone and demanded immediate attention. A raw cover of "Roadrunner" by the Modern Lovers, and the Reverse was born. I mean the Red Verse. Oneil expands on the band's next chapter:

- SF Gate