(Self-released, CD, digital)
I’ve always thought that Vermont is just a little behind the times, with trends taking root later than in other places or simply not at all. So maybe it’s no surprise that when three veteran musicians of diverse sonic backgrounds relocate to the Green Mountains and team up deep in their middle age, the result is an album that feels like it was unearthed from a time capsule buried 30 years ago. Dawn of the Vermen, the debut album from the Vermen, hits like a dusted-off remnant of the ’90s and its anything-goes alt-rock landscape.
Did I listen to the album, then spin the Empire Records soundtrack, trying to pinpoint the source of that nostalgia tickling the back of my brain? Sure did. I didn’t find what I was looking for, though, because to their credit, the Vermen aren’t re-creating anyone else’s sound. Their influences, like their experiences, are varied and complex, from indie to punk to chamber pop. That they came together now to create something that feels so naturally of the past probably says more about their nostalgia than my own.
The southern Vermont three-piece is made up of Matt Sharff on bass and lead vocals, Ed Powers on drums, and Jim Roberto on guitar. The Vermen bill themselves as “grizzled and stewed veterans of punk rock’s inglorious past,” and Dawn of the Vermen offers a thoughtful post-punk journey marked by internal reflection over obvious emotion. Their first single, “Shame Machine,” kicks off the album, an energetic calling card full of distorted riffs and propulsive beats. The track is also the record’s lyrical high point.
“We were born impure/ Going to die unclean / Damn dirty apes built a shame machine” ain’t much, but it’s at least a more interesting and cohesive statement than the collection of overused clichés that make up the rest of the songs. Compare that to the line “running on fumes / walking on eggshells” from the last track, “Cover’s Blown,” and it’s clear the band put its best foot forward with “Shame Machine.”
Lackluster lyrics aside, there’s interesting work happening on Dawn of the Vermen, from the swingy honky-tonk vibe of “Throw the Game” to the slowed-down “Long Way Round,” where Sharff’s vocals simultaneously evoke Trent Reznor and Bruce Springsteen. Then there’s “Satellite,” the highlight of the album — a trippy, stripped-down answer to Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” without the bombastic flair.
The Vermen have musical chops, no doubt, and their aesthetic vision — leading with post-punk and psychedelic rock and blending in a dash of grunge — is familiar and fun. Those lyrics, though, are the hurdle the band can’t quite clear with this debut effort. There is beauty in simplicity, to be sure, but when every other line is a hackneyed bromide you’ve heard a thousand times before, it’s impossible to connect to the band’s own point of view. As it stands, Dawn of the Vermen feels like a solid album of B-sides from a band still searching for its A-side.
Dawn of the Vermen is available at thevermen.bandcamp.com and on major streaming services. The Vermen play the Stone Church in Brattleboro this Saturday, January 11.
This article appears in January 7 • 2026.
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