Album Review: The Verve Pipe - Parachute (2017)

The Verve Pipe - Parachute (2017)

After a decade-plus of side projects, solo albums, as well as Christmas and family offerings, The Verve Pipe finally returned to their alt-rock roots in 2014 with the surprisingly strong Overboard.  This was an impressive feat: not only did they return to release one of their best albums, but they also kick-started a new more prolific chapter for the band. Following the tour supporting Overboard, the band wasted little time in producing new music, releasing internet-only singles nearly monthly from late 2015 and throughout 2016.  This momentum culminated in early 2017 with the arrival of two albums: one was a live reinterpretation of the band's 1996 major label debut, Villains (to celebrate its 20th anniversary); and the other was a physical compilation of those previously mentioned internet singles - the disarmingly superb Parachute.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this album is that it feels like an album.  Despite the years-long gestation of these various singles, Parachute comes across whole, completely cohesive.  This is something the band hasn't been in a long time - even their near-perfect Underneath (2001) had some awkward moments.  Maybe it's because the album sequencing doesn't actually follow the singles' original release chronology; it was instead sequenced to flow like its own album, which was clearly a lesson learned from the somewhat mismanaged Overboard.  Or maybe it's because Brian Vander Ark is only founding member left, and the clear sonic architect (the other remaining original member, Donny Brown, left after Overboard's completion).  Regardless, what is certain is that Parachute is one of the best collection of songs The Verve Pipe has ever released.

"I Can't Get You Off Of My Mind" is the strongest, most direct opening of any Verve Pipe album, and the momentum continues throughout the album even as the dynamics expertly shift from song to song.  The acoustic slow burn of "Nothing Like Your Love" emerges seamlessly from the Beatlesque pop of "The Fine Line"; the multi-part album climax "Grieve For The Girl (That You Once Were)" gives way to the band's most devastating ballad in the album-closing "Love Isn't Love".  But it's the surging "If I Could Make You Feel" and the intriguing "Wallflower" that exemplify the storytelling core of this album, something ported more from Vander Ark's solo work than anything else (yet given the muscle of a true band).  This type of mature craftsmanship is a relatively new shade for the band, but it certainly suits them now that they're in their third decade of existence.  However, the real secret weapon of Parachute is the inclusion of female vocals by way of the newest member, Channing Lee.  It's yet another first for the band, and it expands their sound so much that you'd wish they'd done it years ago, if not from the beginning (see the aforementioned live Villains reinterpretation for further proof).

Forever it seemed that Underneath was the benchmark that every Verve Pipe album either built up to or had to live up to, and it remained unsurpassed... until now.  If Parachute isn't better than Underneath, it's certainly on par, and that's saying something.  Taken with Overboard, the band has not only aged gracefully, but they've also found themselves in a bit of a latter-day creative renaissance.  For a band whose claim to fame was an anthem about stolen youth, it's quite ironic that they are truly in it for the long haul... but it's thrilling!

McS