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The Spell Versus Is Under: Cold-Brewed Coffee

In the ’90s, most indie rockers were white males who cultivated a cool, detached image. New York-based Versus stood out from its contemporaries for many reasons. Its lineup included two (and sometimes three) Filipino-American brothers, it had a female bassist/singer, and the band gleefully professed its love for sports, meat and classic rock. After several albums and lineup changes continuing through 2001, the group went on a recording hiatus, only occasionally performing live. However, a reinvigorated Versus returned two years ago, and the band has just released On The Ones And Threes (Merge), its first full-length in a decade. Now consisting of singer/guitarist Richard Baluyut, drummer Edward Baluyut, bassist/singer Fontaine Toups, plus live violinist/keyboardist Margaret White, Versus picks up where it left off sonically: hypnotic melodies, male/female vocals and the occasional heavy guitar squall. The band members will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with them.

Edward: My good friend Chris Deaner introduced me to cold-brewed coffee, probably the best discovery I’ve made in the past five years. Probably everyone knows about this now, but in case you don’t, this recipe will change your life: You take a French press, put in some ground coffee (about 50 percent more than normal), add cold water and stick it in the fridge at night. The next morning you have the creamiest, smoothest iced coffee you’ve ever tasted. How does it brew without hot water? How does it get creamy? I really have no idea!

Video after the jump.