(((O))) : Whirr – Sway

An unusual take on the whole band-fan relationship marks San Francisco noise merchants Whirr out as an intriguing prospect. One quick look at their Facebook page will attest to this, with vitriolic abuse handed out in every direction, to anyone who might dare to question them (yes, probably even about tour dates – I haven’t been brave enough to try yet). It seems both a deliberate attempt to distance themselves from the fey, introspective world of your archetypal early 90s Shoegaze band, with their middle fingered salute to all and sundry colouring them in a far punkier hue, and a cynical but possibly inspired marketing ploy.

So far, so interesting.  Following 2012’s debut album Pipe Dreams, and EP Around last year, Whirr return with their 2nd long-player Sway. Main protagonist Nick Bassett used to be in Deafheaven, and now also plays bass in Nothing, and if you are familiar with the work of either of these 2 outfits, will have a couple of half-decent reference points when imagining Whirr’s sound. ‘Thunderous slowcore’ is the best description I can conjure, with opener ‘Press’ being the only track of the 8 on show here (well I’m not going to complain- are you?) that hits the throttle and speeds its way through a 3 and a half minute assault on the senses, albeit to a dissatisfying, faded-out conclusion.

‘Mumble’ follows, and is far more representative of the album as a whole, with what sounds like the world’s largest drumkit keeping a near funereal pace to the dense, claustrophobic layers of guitar distortion, and Bassett’s half-whispered vocals drifting in and out of the mix.  ‘Dry’, ‘Clear’ and ‘Heavy’ tread similar paths, although this time there is the sense that at any moment the band might explode into a colossal, overwhelming post-rock style crescendo.

There is no pay-off here however, with Whirr preferring instead to almost continuously deliver a thoroughly enjoyable and ferociously loud chug. This gives the album as a whole a sombre, monochromatic feel, with only the title track and the penultimate ‘Lines’ providing glimpses of light, the former’s softer guitar lines bringing Slowdive to mind, and the latter moving Bassett’s vocals further up the mix, and delivering a more conventional song structure. The enormous sonic punch is still packed, but at least you are flattened by a more familiar fist.

All in all, Whirr seem entirely comfortable with their role as uncompromising antagonists, and the style in which Sway has been recorded, ‘very loud indeed’, means I can only begin to imagine what a fearsome proposition these guys and these tracks would be live, and in the flesh. Tour dates, chaps?