Smarter than Blink-182 and certainly far less juvenile, Vera Zero (http://www.verazero.com) are daring to make the pop-punk genre listenable again. The Blink-182 comparison isn't lazy journalism; there are times when vocalist/guitarist Rob Kerr does recall Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus. The biggest difference being that Kerr isn't annoying. Much of that has to do with his songwriting, which avoids those smirking adolescent moments and toilet jokes.
"So What?" pokes fun at the current alternative-rock climate, so many groups sounding too much alike. The melodic push and pull of fuzzy guitars display a pretty definite early '90s influence, reminiscent of Green Day but more along the lines of that band's criminally underrated major-label follow-up, "Insomniac." In fact, the toe-tapping "I Bleed" could've fit onto "Insomniac" as well, somewhere between the driving hard-rock rhythms of "Geek Stink Breath" and the pogoing pop of "Walking Contradiction."
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On "The Heart of Midlothian," Vera Zero shift direction, offering a moving tune of romantic isolation that's as effective and sensitive as Weezer's forays into lovelorn confessions. They pick up the charge again on the smoking title cut with its wall-slamming glam riffs and machine-gun drums, ending this impressive five-cut EP with the punk attack of "Around the World."
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