Whirr self-released a demo cassette and the EP Distressor before signing to Tee Pee Records in 2011. The band released June that year, followed by their 2012 debut album, Pipe Dreams. The latter was met with a generally positive reception from music critics. Whirr released the Around EP on July 9, 2013, and toured to support it that August with the band Nothing. As a result of touring together, members of Nothing and Whirr formed a side project called Death of Lovers, and Whirr and Nothing released a split EP. Bassett then joined Nothing on bass and toured with them. Bassett also started a new indie pop project with former Whirr vocalist Alexandra Morte called Camera Shy, while guitarist Joseph Bautista joined Best Coast. On September 23, 2014, Whirr released their second studio album, Sway, on Graveface Records. On October 25, 2019, it was announced by Time Well Recordings and Whirr drummer Devin Nunes that the band would be releasing their third studio album, Feels Like You. It has been rumored that this is their final record, although there is yet to be any confirmation of this online by the band or recording studio. Initially intended as a vinyl only release, the album was made available through the new Whirr website as a limited pressing of 650 copies which sold out within the first day. Following this, the album was leaked online and the band opted to do an official digital release made available on their Bandcamp and was included with orders of the vinyl. While there has been no announcement of a tour in support of the record, there has been speculation that this would occur in 2020 alongside claims that Dominic Palermo of Nothing would be acting as their tour manager.
Controversies
On October 19, 2015, a series of derogatory remarks towards the Washington-based hardcore punk band G.L.O.S.S. were posted on Whirr's Twitter account, including one that read: " just a bunch of boys running around in panties making shitty music". These tweets were interpreted as transphobic and resulted in a backlash on social media; Graveface, who released the band's Sway, and Run for Cover Records, who released three of their EPs, severed ties with the band. Bassett admitted to posting the first tweet toward G.L.O.S.S., in response to hearing a rumor that the band was only permitting certain types of people to attend their shows and buy their merchandise. According to Bassett, the remaining tweets were posted by a friend of the band and did not reflect the views of band members. Whirr posted a public apology to their Twitter account the following morning and claimed to have severed ties with the person responsible for the offensive tweets. Whirr's online social media presence has otherwise been notoriously inflammatory toward its own fans, an action that the band described in a 2014 interview as "weeding out the pussies".
