Unless you are familiar with their previous musical adventures, you might not know Verity Den. After all, the trio formed back in 2023 and before this self-titled album had only a cassette singles set on Bandcamp that quickly sold out. Yet, the latter fact just might indicate that songwriter/engineer Casey Proctor (Haruspex Palace, Holy Sons), Trevor Reece, and Mike Wallace (Drag Sounds) just might be onto something here. Following the release of their early singles collection, Proctor engineered and reconstructed into a new seven song set. So what do we have here?
Verity Den, like most of the current artists working in the indie rock mode have their inspirations that range from the best of shoegaze and dream-pop, spiced with a good dose of Yo La Tengo, Pixies, and a few others. Yet, what is not so often the case with relatively new bands, the trio have re-modeled and re-shaped their inspirations into a defined, individual sound that is brimming both with quality songwriting and playing, with the tracks like the noisier introductory “Washer Dryer” and more languid “Prudence” being personal standouts. At the same time, none of the other tracks lag behind in any way, exuding with confidence and Proctor’s inspired production skills. In a way, the album is a breath of fresh air and represents quite a promise of even better things to come from Verity Den.
