(NOTE: This is a follow-up to the VR SEX live review that is already posted and available here: https://soundsandshadows.com/2022/04/01/vr-sex-live-at-the-casbah-san-diego-ca-3-24-22/?fbclid=IwAR3hsseQi621MviCpFXdpH0P6IJS4Ard3cP-M3hHH6Vuo71aMCT1FwVzkic)
Imagine a band that encapsulates everything you love about music; a band that seems like an amalgam of almost every style that caught your ear as a kid when you heard it on the radio for the first time. After a VERY LONG spell of cynical indifference, my faith has been restored courtesy of VR SEX.
Rough Dimension is the band’s second full-length and fourth release overall and it shows no sign of the band slowing down from it’s barrage of cerebral ear-candy. These nine songs will take you down the dark seedy side streets of LA at night, but you may not be sure if you’re the prey or predator.
First of all, Rough Dimension is a rocker. Track one, Victim or Vixen, is evidence of that, followed by Glutton For Love, which really drives the point home. Rocking or not, the synths make strong showing on Glutton For Love and Snake Water. And some experimental noise cleverly sneaks its way in with Cyber Crimes.
Is it wrong that a punk song made a middle-aged cynic like me want to cry? Walk Of Fame, both in its lyrics and overall tone, just really grabbed me in a way that so few songs do. Not since Chris Reed of
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry have I heard a droning baritone voice convey such emotion.
The guitar progressions throughout Rough Dimension have to be some of the most fresh and original I’ve heard in long time – especially in a genre that I was convinced was past its last gasp. Even the simpler ideas are well-conveyed due to good ol’ fashioned musicianship.
Even if I wasn’t already a fan of VR SEX and biased as Hell, I’d still put Rough Dimension among my top picks of 2022 so far. This would have been a fantastic full-length debut album; the fact that it’s their sophomore effort makes it even more impressive.
https://vrsex.bandcamp.com/album/rough-dimension