Comparing an artists newest record to previous efforts can be, as the kids say, a bit sus. On the one hand, you tend to discount what came before depending on how the new effort fares so the trick is to do so in a way that flatters what preceded. Also, you don’t want to put a nail in the coffin of a band’s burgeoning career. Like, if this is the greatest album ever then they can only go down from there, right??? In other words: Slippery slope! Especially when we say that Hard Copy is the best VR Sex record to date.
As an aside, we were a little bummed that a full Drab Majesty (Deb Damure= VR’s Andrew Clinco) record didn’t materialize in 2023 (The duo released an EP in September) but while aesthetically and stylistically on another plane, a new VR Sex album especially one that wasn’t anywhere on our radar more than makes up for the gap if that’s the way it has to be.
“Dictionary Talk” is the most immediate sounding VR Sex track to date and that’s saying something considering what 2022’s Rough Dimension opened up with. Right away it’s pretty apparent that the more collaborative full on band nature on Hard Copy is having an effect with the resulting music being denser, more layered and with more urgency to put them on par with modern peers like Beastmilk, Grave Pleasures, or She Wants Revenge to name a few.
“Hush Money Millionaire” doesn’t let up in the slightest with a seismic shift with the way drums and bass thunder on as Clinco’s voice echoes out and Mike Kreibel’s guitars slice through the rhythmic wall of sound, “Inanimate Love” kinda slows stuff down but not really with the way the track presents a constant barrage of anxiety-inducing noise from the guitars, and “Squid Row” is built off another solid guitar refrain and almost gallops along with the way the rhythm section syncs up.
“Real Doll Time” led the charge for this album cycle and here in HC it’s just as biting and definitely the most obvious song one would point out when trying to describe VR Sex to the uninitiated especially with the fantastical coda which concludes the fast paced number. “Runway Runaway” ambles in next amidst a wall of feedback then gets its’ psychedelic dirge on before the fuzzy fun of “Space Invasion” arrives.
The trio of “Jenny Killer Glue”, “In Great Detail”, and “Medication or Meditation” rounds out Hard Copy with a diverse array of aural assaults offering melancholic moods, epic anthems, and eerie experiments for the ears respectively.
Hard Copy arrives via Dais Records on March 22nd and you can pre-order your copy in a variety of formats now when you head here. For more from VR Sex, follow them across their socials when you click here, here, or here.