The Verra Cruz may come from the sleepy English town of St Albans, and may be named after the title given to Brazil by its first Portuguese settlers (meaning "true cross"), but it's clear that they actually have their collective heart in Seattle. Not that they're trying to hide it, mind, given the huge Seattle number plate on the back of the CD sleeve and the fact that this, their second single, is produced by former Soundgarden engineer Jason Corsaro.
To be honest, the muddy production on Corner Of My Mind actually doesn't do them any favours, with the guitars, bass and drums being merged into an overly dense swamp. Having said that, it's still an above average song, hyperactively flying by in a whirl of grungey riffs and punky edginess, but with enough nous to make sure its melody is not forgotten.
The B-sides demonstrate how versatile this lot have become since the days when they were a gigging young trio known as Dust. Rock And A Hard Place utilises Marc James' lap-steel playing to pretty unique effect amongst its otherwise hard rocking cloak (everyone needs a gimmick right? And this is a good one...), while Bitter Feelings finds them coming over all vulnerable with James' bluesy voice holding its own with the sparse instrumentation. It's already looking like The Verra Cruz will break America - when they do, let's hope they get a bit more respect in the UK than Bush did.
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