The perfect album for riding with the windows down.
Listening to the Virginmarys new album Divides, you can feel the intensity of it begin with the first song “Push the Pedal.” It does exactly what the song tells you and accelerates into the album. The song is much like the rest of the album where it feels like it would be perfect to listen to on an especially sunny day, in a car, driving down back roads with nothing but the Virginmarys album blasting. Each following song blended into the first as you drive and felt alive.
The best song on the album, “Kill the Messenger,” is the pinnacle of the “fun to drive to” songs on the album. It begins with a pretty sweet guitar riff and the drumming of a cymbal. Much like speeding up going around a bend, and then hitting a heavy guitar riff. The rest is just cruising glory.
Beside just the driving aspect, the album is excellent and lead by the combination of lyrics, voice and guitar of Ally Dickaty. Songs like “For You My Love” and “Living in My Piece” really highlight his vocal range.
You could feel the pain in the singer’s voice when he belted out each lyric. His guitar riffs are found in abundance on the album too, highlighting just a few songs on the album with great riffs on “Motherless Land,” “Push the Pedal,” and “I Wanna Take You Home.” He may be the most noticeable piece of the band, but drummer Danny Dolan impressed me on numerous tracks. The bassist, Matt Rose, was the last member added to the band and doesn’t stand out too much. They all come together perfectly with “Kill the Messenger.” The opening guitar and cymbal playing leads into a heavy riff by Dickaty before his voice creeps into the fray. Rose’s bass provides a heart-poundingly fast bass line to follow behind all the rest of the band.
They’re lead singer/guitarist is one of the more refreshing punk rock voices in a few years, and they’ve just got themselves a lifelong fan after hearing this album.
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