Russell HughesThe Virginmarys – Sitting Ducks (Self-Release)
Genre: Hard Rock
After knocking windows out of doors with their debut album King of Conflict and building on that success of follow up Divides, The Virginmarys are back with their new EP Sitting Ducks.
While their first two LPs were a more balls to the wall affair that rocked hard and took no prisoners, this new EP marks a subtle progression from that fire-and-fury approach to making music.
Although four songs isn’t a watertight sample size, all indications point to a band thinking more and slowing down to deliver that message. Don’t panic, however, as Ally Dickaty and his boys still have plenty of hard rock pedigree behind them and that is never going to go away.
The opening song is the self-titled Sitting Ducks, which bursts out the blocks in a way that long time fans of the band will expect. There is a big chorus with hints of something more complicated bubbling away in the background while Dickaty’s gravely tones steal the show once again.
Sleep is a different beast entirely and delves deep into Dickaty’s human condition. It’s a song about the worries that keep people up at night, the fears that wake them up and what drives them. It’s beautiful.
The next two songs blindfolds the EP, spins it around, touches the ground and changes direction in a split second. Sweet Loretta and Through The Sky brings back everything that made their first two albums so good: a great chorus, guitar hooks that you can sink your teeth into and a beat to get you off your feet.
Although the sound might not be as loud as fans of the band have come to be used to, the music is just as good. There is no point about being loud for loud’s sake. There needs to be some intelligence behind it and Sitting Ducks has that in spades.
RUSHONROCK RATED: 8/10 Ducked it? I don’t think so