SOTD #202 // Whirl: 'Leave'

San Franciscan sextet Whirl set their guitars to stun on their towering new single ‘Leave,’ a textured and tense song that is ultimately far more concerned about crafting a capricious mood than creating any type of tangible meaning. The track is awash in a wall of guitars straight from the start, like a continually crashing wave of distortion and discord, with ghostly vocals just thrown in to give listeners something discernible to grasp at while they get swept away by the swelling din.

The band are clearly influenced by the shoegaze sonicsphere of MBV and Ride, but bring a refreshing west coast vibe to their sound that, while far from being sun-kissed, at least has a distinctly brighter atmosphere layered within their all-consuming noise than their brooding English influences. While ‘Leave’ is a blistering monster of a track, it’s also quite lush and palatial as well, as the band clearly seem to be just as interested in creating a mercurial, moody spirit with their songs as they are in turning their amps up to 11. It all amounts to a tidal-wave of both sound and substance that will entirely negate the endless clatter of the outside world during the song’s blazing but brief four minutes.

Whirl: ‘Leave’

Whirl’s Distressor EP is available now digitally or alternatively as a pre-order on 12″ vinyl (released 7 March). A cassette edition of Distressor is also available via Bridgetown Records.