The fabulously named Virgin Mary Disco is a four-piece hailing from Melbourne, cranking out kick-arse post-punk new-wave garage rock. Their debut single, “Modern Man” was released earlier this year, and was followed up by “Automation”. We’re stoked to be premiering today their third single, “For Free”, ahead of its release tomorrow.
“For Free” is ridiculously catchy, infused with free-flowing guitars, a driving beat and snappy lyrics. From the opening bars, it has a captivating surf-rock dance vibe with multiple peaks, that will have you humming the melody long after the track has finished.
The band comprises Spencer Morris on vocals, Liam Spicer-Quinn on bass, Duncan Callaghan on guitar and Jackson Spessot on the sticks. They recorded the track at Head Gap in Preston with Rohan Sforcina (Little Ugly Girls, Mildlife, Rolling Blackouts C.F.).
The song has a chilled surf-rock feel, and comes with a take on the cost of consumption as Spencer writes: “The song is about the experience of employment in the modern workplace and capitalism. The lyrics for ‘For Free’ came from my own mishearing of the song ‘Making Flippy Floppy’ by Talking Heads. When Byrne sings ‘Business and pleasure, lie right to your face’, I always heard ‘Business IS pleasure’, a contradiction I could identify with, and the lyrics grew from there. Many companies today present themselves as supportive, community environments (some may even be genuine in their pursuit), but at the end of the day they continue to thrive on a system based on the extraction of cheap resources and cheap labour, leaving us to pay the true cost of their greed.”
The guitars on “For Free” are a highlight – punchy, chilled yet urgent, saturated in party vibes. Duncan gives us insight into how he came up with the good stuff: “The music for ‘For Free’ originally came from a spontaneous jam at practice several years ago. Liam had a bassline, and I came up with the guitar part and chorus pretty instinctively. The vague intention I had with the guitar part was somewhere between surf rock and The Smiths. During recording I told Rohan my original intent of sounding surf rock and he lent me his vintage 60s Fender Jaguar, a staple of surf rock classics, to give the guitar solo a distinctly dry and tremolo heavy tone. I think there is still some Smiths influence in the funky bass line and clean tone and it has a very danceable feel.”
It’s been a massive year for the band, with their breakout singles, sold-out shows and they have been named as support for the mighty Amyl and the Sniffers on their regional Victorian tour. They will be having a launch for “For Free” at the Cactus Room in Thornbury on the 11th of November. I’ve included the details below.
In the meantime, you can enjoy our premiere, and please be sure to pre-save it HERE.
Upcoming Virgin Mary Disco Shows
Sat 11th Nov (Single Launch) – Cactus Room, Thornbury – supported by Licklash and Worker & Parasite – Tickets
Sat 25th Nov – supporting Amyl and The Sniffers – Pier Bandroom – Tickets (Sold Out) – Waiting List
You can give Virgin Mary Disco a follow on Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp and Spotify
Header image credit Lucy Clough
