For a 3 piece, Vir make quite a racket.
The opening track of their second full-length release, Down By Law, makes this plain in no uncertain terms. This track is thick with pulsating bass, strident guitar riffs, thumping percussion and soaring Bono-esque vocals.
Unfortunately, it is followed by the exact same formula for the remaining nine tracks. Subtlety and variety are not their strong points.
Comparisons with U2, and practically any other would be stadium filler band in that vein, are impossible to set aside.
The songs were written in the trio's native New Zealand but recorded in their new-found home in California.
According to the band's website "the record contends with a search for heritage and sense of place amongst an urban environment of absence".
You have to take this on trust because, for all you can tell, Sam Sloane might just as well be singing his shopping list.
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Given that Vir are addressing such weighty themes, you'd have thought they'd have made some attempt to make the words more discernable (or, at the very least, included a lyric sheet) .
As it is, all the angst is almost entirely buried in a dense shoegaze mix.
Their intent seems to be to slay listeners by volume alone, a strategy that might work ok on stage but on record leaves the listener with nothing to do other than strike a few charismatic front man poses or play air guitar for forty odd minutes.
Not my idea of fun.
Vir's Website
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