New York City-based collective VRSTY (pronounced “Varsity”) — Joey Varela [vocals], Javy Dorrejo [bass], Chris Cody [drums], and Paul Gregory [guitar] — have announced their new album Levitate. The album is out October 27 via Spinefarm.

Today, the band has shared the video for the kiss-off anthem “Fuck You Forever,” which opens Levitate and is about that one thing that brings out the worst in you. VRSTY are not holding back with the song’s message — or its guitar heft and stadium-sized choruses. So go ahead and play it for the most recent person to break your heart!

“‘Fuck You Forever’ is very self-explanatory,” says Varela. “It’s a song about finally being done with being treated like an option and saying, ‘Fuck you, I’m better than this.’ It can sometimes be hard to see what you deserve when you’re treated like you’re not important but sometimes you just gotta say fuck it, fuck you, and move on.”

LEVITATE TRACK LISTING:

“Fuck You Forever”
“Back to Back”
“No Chill”
“Black & Blue”
“Wide Awake”
“Dangerous”
“The Plug”
“The Way It Is”
“Doomed”
“Kill The Rich”
“Glad You Came”
“Powerless”
“Can You Love Me”
“The Feeling”
“Levitate”

VRSTY ON TOUR:

THE RIOT MUSIC TOUR: EAST COAST 2023:
WITH DROPOUT KINGS:

9/6 — Pittsburgh, PA — Crafthouse*
9/7 — Erie, PA — Basement Transmissions
9/8 — Harrisburg, PA — HMAC
9/9 — Baltimore, MD — The Crown
9/11 — Virginia Beach, VA — Scandals Live*
9/12 — Charleston, SC — Music Farm
9/14 — Columbia, SC — New Brookland Tavern
9/15 — Jacksonville, NC — Hooligans
9/16 — Jacksonville, FL — Jack Rabbits
9/17 — Fort Walton Beach, FL — Downtown Music Hall
9/18 — Orlando, FL — Conduit
9/19 — Tampa, FL — Orpheum
9/21 — Nashville, TN — The Cobra
*Headline Date

WITH MONUMENTS + FOR THE FALLEN DREAMS:

9/26 — Spokane, WA — Big Dipper (Only For The Fallen Dreams)
9/27 — Seattle, WA — Substation
9/28 — Portland, OR — Dante’s
9/29 — Sacramento, CA — Old Ironworks
9/30 — Santa Ana, CA — Constellation Room
10/1 — Phoenix, AZ — Nile Underground
10/3 — Austin, TX — Come and Take It Live
10/4 — Houston, TX — Scout Bar
10/5 — Dallas, TX — Trees
10/6 — Springfield, MO — The Riff
10/7 — Chicago, IL — Reggie’s
10/8 — Detroit, MI — Sanctuary
10/10 — Lakewood, OH — The Foundry
10/11 — Albany, NY — Empire Underground
10/12 — Clifton, NJ — Dingbatz
10/13 — Rochester, NY — Montage Music Hall
10/14 — Manchester, NH — Angel City Music Hall
10/15 — Brooklyn, NY — Meadows

New York City-based collective VRSTY (pronounced “Varsity”) — Joey Varela [vocals], Javy Dorrejo [bass], Chris Cody [drums], and Paul Gregory [guitar] — are serving up a brand new track with “The Plug.”

It’s a confident track, powered by Varela’s vocals, synths, and powerhouse riffs. It doesn’t adhere to any genre specifications or parameters — and that’s what makes VRSTY stand out from the pack.

“‘The Plug’ was only the song that came to me naturally, because I was literally living it as I was writing it,” Varela shares, pulling back the curtain on the song’s in-real-time and incredibly personal nature. “It’s about convincing yourself that you’re in love with the good in a person when in actuality, you’re addicted to the hell they bring into your life. They essentially become the dealer of all your problems and you can’t help but buy what they’re selling.”

Stream the single here.

The band is currently on tour with Secrets, For the Fallen Dreams, Outline in Color, and Nerv. All dates are below.

VRSTY ON TOUR:
WITH SECRETS, FOR THE FALLEN DREAMS, OUTLINE IN COLOR, + NERV:

6/26 — Nashville, TN — The End
6/27 — West Columbia, SC — New Brookland Tavern
6/28 — Greensboro, NC — Hangar 1819
6/29 — Philadelphia, PA — Milk Boy
7/1 — Thompson, CT — Capulet Fest

New York City-based collective VRSTY (pronounced “Varsity“) — Joey Varela [vocals], Javy Dorrejo [bass], Chris Cody [drums], and Paul Gregory [guitar] — have shared the new song “Closer.” Listen here.

The song will appear on VRSTY’s new album Welcome Home, out January 21. Pre-order it here. Please note the release date has changed.

“Closer” is another banger from the band, with thunderous riffs led by Varela’s smooth, R&B-inspired vocal styles and unshakeable melodies. The song explores the notion of wanting to get to know that person you meet and can’t get out of your head.

“‘Closer’ literally came out of nowhere,” Varela recalls. “It started as just a fun idea to get our creative juices flowing in the studio and ended up becoming its own thing. It’s definitely one of the more different songs on the record. Lyrics-wise, it’s also one of the easiest songs to connect to — if you’re an adult, that is!”

Welcome Home is the band’s debut full length for the label and follows last year’s breakthrough Cloud City EP, which has accumulated six million streams in less than a year and yielded the head-turning singles “Shameless” and “Massive.” The latter was the most played on SiriusXM’s Octane for two weeks in a row in late 2020. VRSTY have perfected their seamless and fearless cross-pollination of metallic grooves and R&B-influenced, after midnight vocal swagger on this 14-track offering. VRSTY aren’t just offering their own take on a genre; they have authored a fusion style that is entirely their own.

“Welcome Home is an incredibly personal album to me,” Varela shares. “I know everybody says that, and hey, maybe they’re not lying when they do. I sure as hell am not. It was definitely a task, at first, trying to figure out how to phrase or sing something without getting too personal. But somewhere along the way, I threw that idea out the window and decided to say exactly what I felt. You won’t find me trying to sound cool or using any fancy wordplay. It’s just me in my rawest form, saying exactly what I’ve felt or experienced over the years, which is what has made me who I am today. I think if anybody ever wants to get to know me, this record will give you everything you need to know. No secrets. Just me.”

WELCOME HOME TRACK LISTING:
 “Finesse” (Feat. Notions)
“Soul“
“Closer”
“Sick“
“Paranoid”
“Never Again”
“We, Always”
“Welcome Home”
“Love Sick”
“Hush”
“King of Pop”
“Gravity”
“Only Sad”
“11 a.m.”

New York City-based collective VRSTY (pronounced “Varsity“) — Joey Varela [vocals], Javy Dorrejo [bass], Chris Cody [drums], and Paul Gregory [guitar] — have announced that their new album Welcome Home will arrive on November 19. Pre-order it here.

Watch the video for first single “Sick” here.

“I must be cursed to repeat cycles because ‘Sick,’ much like ‘Shameless’ from our EP, was the very last song written for the release,” says Varela. “This song actually didn’t exist until a few months after the record was pretty much done. It was also an incredibly different process writing this one. Instead of my usual approach of working with [producer] Andrew [Baylis], I also got to work with Kile Odell and Zach Williams before bringing Andrew into the mix. It’s also one of the few songs that I’ve ever written where I’m just having fun singing about whatever random story pops into my head. Sometimes, music should just be fun. That’s what I went for with this — and I’m glad I did.”

Welcome Home is the band’s debut full length for the label and follows last year’s breakthrough Cloud City EP, which has accumulated six million streams in less than a year and yielded the head-turning singles “Shameless” and “Massive.” The latter was the most played on SiriusXM’s Octane for two weeks in a row in late 2020. VRSTY have perfected their seamless and fearless cross-pollination of metallic grooves and R&B-influenced, after midnight vocal swagger on this 14-track offering. VRSTY aren’t just offering their own take on a genre; they have authored a fusion style that is entirely their own.

“Welcome Home is an incredibly personal album to me,” Varela shares. “I know everybody says that, and hey, maybe they’re not lying when they do. I sure as hell am not. It was definitely a task, at first, trying to figure out how to phrase or sing something without getting too personal. But somewhere along the way, I threw that idea out the window and decided to say exactly what I felt. You won’t find me trying to sound cool or using any fancy wordplay. It’s just me in my rawest form, saying exactly what I’ve felt or experienced over the years, which is what has made me who I am today. I think if anybody ever wants to get to know me, this record will give you everything you need to know. No secrets. Just me.”

WELCOME HOME TRACK LISTING:
“Finesse” (Feat. Notions)
“Soul”
“Closer”
“Sick”
“Paranoid”
“Never Again”
“We, Always”
“Welcome Home”
“Love Sick”
“Hush”
“King of Pop”
“Gravity”
“Only Sad”
“11 a.m.”

SPINEFARM RECORDS is pleased to introduce its brand new signing, the New York City-based collective VRSTY (pronounced “Varsity”). The quartet — Joey Varela [vocals], Javy Dorrejo [bass], Chris Cody [drums], and Paul Gregory [guitar] — will release the Cloud CityEP on December 4. To celebrate the news, the band has shared the video for the new song “Shameless.”  

“‘Shameless’ was the last song I wrote for the EP and the first song I fell in love with,” says singer Varela. “‘Shameless’ is a song about giving into your temptations even though you know it’s probably not the best choice. I think we all go through a time in our lives where we become fed up with doing things that (we believe) go unnoticed and would rather be the bad guy for a while. ‘Shameless’ is a ‘back on my bullshit’ anthem for me, and I hope it becomes that for everybody.”

Regarding the band’s signing with Spinefarm, he says, “It’s absolutely wild. They were the label that I didn’t know a lot about, but always secretly thought was killing it for their bands. Never did I think they would be interested in a tiny band like ours but I guess that’s how the machine works, right? When you least expect it, it comes for you. Either way, this entire process has been amazing so far and I truly believe that with Spinefarm behind us, we’re gonna do some damage.”  

VRSTY’s music is unique and unexpected blend of metallic grooves and R&B vocal swagger. The band has been grinding in the scene for over five years now. VRSTY released the Lights EP in 2015, went on tour, and earned their road stripes. They dropped Blck and Blck Deluxe in 2019, with “YOU & I” (412K Spotify streams), “Colorblind” (311K Spotify streams), and “Nola”  (278K Spotify streams) quickly establishing themselves as indie fan favorites. The band has tallied over 2 million total stream and looks to open things up even more with the Cloud City EP, which serves as its Spinefarm Records debut.

CLOUD CITY EP TRACK LISTING:
“Massive”
“Dig”
“Shameless”
“Pathos”
“Cloud City”
“Wilt”
“Wilt (Cloud City Edition)” (Featuring Gina Fritz)