VibraGun

There are many things that frustrate me about Top 20 lists. Chief among them are those that suggest that there isn't any good new music. The quest for new music has always been an adventure. The ability to set aside pre-conceived notions and accept what you hear, is key to your success. I tire of those who claim that music is derivative. Trust me, people wrote off REM as a Byrds rip-off, Interpol as a Joy Division ripoff and yet those bands became the standard for their generation.

I also cringe when I look at a Top 20 list that is essentially a capsulation of my inbox for the past six months. The PR machine drives the music press as much as it ever did. A quick scan of your favorite websites and magazines will reveal little variation and each has their PR contact prominently displayed on their Facebook page. To be fair, there are some familiar names on this list. This isn't a list intended for a music snob. All of this is easily accesible music that should engage and reward with repeated listenings. You don't have to read a biography to understand the "message" of the band. All I ask is that you explore the bands that you love on this list. Buy their record. See them live. Stalk them on Facebook.... Wait. Save that for me. - Huffington Post UK

VibraGun channel the fuzzy force of 80s and 90s rock royalty like Swervedriver, Catherine Wheel and Curve. Not surprisingly, there’s a mild English flavour to the Seattle-based outfit. After forming in 2011, the band spent eight months with producer Evan Foster to craft their self-titled debut record. Album opener ‘Send Me To Dream‘ is a heady rock anthem, with stadium ready riffs and the attitude to match! - Sounds Better With Reverb

“It evokes a beautiful Summer day, traveling vast distances over verdant green American interiors. Guitars build slowly and finally let loose with a big, heavy rock passage – all the while maintaining this dream-like aura. It’s a gorgeous, emotion-inducing journey home.” - Unsound America

"Mood moving shoegaze here alights on the more rock-edged side of the genre..ethereal beauty that refuses to give up its catchy pop dynamic even when it’s pulling into the stratosphere. " - Big Takeover issue #74, Spring 2014

“Their sound is nothing short of electric, pretty psychedelia swirls running through walls of pulsating noise like shimmering wave tips on a sunny late afternoon. Oh, and they also get a little ferocious at times, too.” - Fuzzy Logic

You read about the Duke Spirit—who play at Neumos tonight—in Trent Moorman’s Sound Check column last week, but you may also be interested in one of their opening bands, VibraGun.

Based on their debut release, EP1, the Seattle five-piece have a mastered the classic shoegaze sound: Their blurred male/female vocals interchanges (between ex-Black Nite Crash guitarist Joel Bergstrom and keyboardist Amber Joy Smith), wonkily distorted guitar windstorms, and breathtaking crescendos evoke ’gaze paragons My Bloody Valentine. It’s all very Love(less)ly. Can't wait to hear more from these VibraGunners. - lineout.thestranger.com

VibraGun embrace lulling hypnotic states and the jagged pulse of rock that describes the rough beauty of the Pacific Northwest. - Seismic-Sound