A band who formed just prior to the pandemic settling in like an unwelcome house guest in early 2020, Melbourne's Virgin Mary Disco were forced into a suspended hiatus after just four band practices.
Brought together via the interwebs by a shared love of making loud music inspired by the British new wave and post-punk of Joy Division, New Order and The Cure, plus the seminal '70s punk of The Clash, the quartet of Spencer Morris (vocals), Liam Spicer-Quinn (bass), Duncan Callaghan (guitar) and Jackson Spessot (drums) also lean hard into early 2000s indie tones with a hint of sleazy rock & roll added as a pocket square to the group's three-piece musical suit.Of their musical intentions, Duncan states: "We all love the attractiveness of pop, indie and garage.
"We really wanted to create a gig where you can mosh to aggro bangers AND cry to sad-boy bops, and then have it tie neatly together with some pop hooks."
Virgin Mary Disco's debut single, 'Modern Man', complements perfectly their mission statement: angular, thumping garage rock mashed with frenetic, bluesy guitar licks and a DIY brashness bristling with enough 'tude to match any Grumpy Cat meme.
Packaged within a tight, two-minute window of sonic goodness The Strokes would envy, the cranking energy and exuberant, rollicking rhythms of 'Modern Man' showcase a band expertly making waves as they embark on their maiden voyage.
"The transactional nature of modern love and dating life are way too much like a game," begins Spencer, discussing the song's lyrical direction.
"Each person is brought down to a simple profile and algorithm, which has a tendency to make it feel cold and numb."
Ahead of the song's release tomorrow (27 January), scenestr is stoked to premiere 'Modern Man' today. Enjoy.
Produced, recorded, and mixed by Rohan Sforcina at Head Gap in Preston and mixed by Crystal Mastering, Virgin Mary Disco were intent on capturing the band's live energy for their debut offering.
"For this track we decided to take on a straightforward approach," Liam explains. "We focused less on production and more on trying to capture the energy of our live sound."
Although relatively young within the industry, the band were grateful for the guidance given to them by Rohan while in the studio. "The recording process was easy when you have someone like Rohan at the helm," adds Liam.
"He heard things I've never heard in music before. He could spot things that could be improved by a simple, slight turn of a knob on a guitar pedal."
Virgin Mary Disco host their 'Modern Man' single launch at Cherry Bar (Melbourne) 4 February.
