VIRGINS
Michael Smyth at the hazy centre is joined by vocalist Rebecca Dow, David Sloan on rhythm guitar, Brendy McCann on bass and James Foy on drums. Virgins were born after a lust to satiate a musical thirst. A chance encounter with a Slow Crush record ushered Michael on the ethereal cloudy path of shoegaze; with a board of fuzz and reverb pedals he set out to create Virgins.
Virgins are a Belfast-based shoegaze band who transcend that reductive tag to deliver a noise which is thrillingly loud and weightily light. Out soon is Nothing Hurt And Everything Was Beautiful, the much anticipated follow up to Transmit A Little Heaven their brilliant debut EP.
Shoegaze Blog broke their rule of not covering singles for Vows “deafening dream pop". Initially conceived as a band with a revolving door policy, which would have Michael record the material and have it brought to life by a live band, this changed once the current line up joined. Virgins are now a fully formed band. They are fresh new talent that offer something no one else in Ireland is doing. Through the haze of fuzz and reverb lies a beautiful cacophony of melody.
This led to them working with Jonny Woods (Wynona Bleach) and releasing debut single Vows in August 2021 to an unprecedented response; premiering on White Light White Heat with comparisons to Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream era and “Cocteau Twins with extra guitar and drums, exquisite.” The track was picked up by Golden Plec, Chordblossom, played on Q Radio and ATL.