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Avg: 3.5 (269 ratings)
- Date Released: September 30, 2008
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Garage Rock
- Label: In The Red Records
A short blast of big, messy, perfect indie pop
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We Say...
Influences sometimes look best when worn on the sleeve. Many of the most thrilling groups in pop music were so effective (and beloved) not for invention, but for synthesis — exploiting a new and perfect combination of the familiar. Jesus & Mary Chain — themselves an increasingly relevant touchstone for indie bands — hit both hearts and the charts with a wickedly loud, undeniably cool A + B: sweet girl-group stomp and piercing Velvet Underground-y fuzz. Like JAMC, the Vivian Girls draw you into their sound with a wish-I-had-thought-of-that set of reference points: echo-y Wall of Sound production, '80s indie-pop ramshackle and gleeful riot-grrl instrument-bashing. Buried underneath all the influences (and reverb) are — most importantly, of course — great pop songs.
After the galloping, strangled punk burst of album opener "All the Time," it's "Damaged" that truly reveals Vivian Girls' m.o. There's the mega-simple shuffling drums n' tambourine backbeat, the just-off sugar-sweet high harmonies and four-note guitar solo — it barely noses past two minutes and is still longer than half the other songs on the album. The songs on Vivian Girls are flimsy and fun, but also kick up a dark, fierce racket. "Tell the World," with its chugging rhythm and minor-key harmonies, is almost certainly the best lo-fi spooky punk anthem you've heard in years — probably since the heyday of seminal '90s C86-ers Black Tambourine, who bear a clear influence on the Girls. By the time the sparkling bounce of album highlight "Where Do You Run To?" starts up, it's become clear: you've heard this sound before — you've loved it, even — but somehow it's never sounded quite this exciting. A neat trick, indeed. -
They Say...
At 21 minutes long Vivian Girls' debut album is over almost before it begins; it flashes by in a cloud of sludgy distortion and hissy noise. The trio belongs to a proud heritage of noise pop that started (as do so many things) with the Velvet Underground, went through to the Shop Assistants and early My Bloody Valentine in the mid-'80s, and continued on to Black Tambourine and Tiger Trap in the late '90s. Along with current bands like Times New Viking, Vivian Girls take their cues from their predecessors and cover their melodies in fuzzy gunk. It's a winning formula, as the bands mentioned previously have proven. Vivian Girls don't add much to the formula here as they race through the ten songs at a breathless pace, submerging the guitars in a sludgy murk and barely pausing for breath. The vocals sound rushed and off-key, the harmonies are flat at times, and the drums often fall behind the beat as the rest of the band races for the finish line. If you demand precision and timing from your pop music, you'll be aghast at the trio's lack of professionalism. But what Vivian Girls sacrifice in chops, they gain back double in energy and immediacy. The sound of three people ripping through hooky tunes without regard for pleasantries and taste is one of the joys of rock & roll, and Vivian Girls do satisfy on that account. The album could have used more variation; the only ballad on the album ("Where Do You Run") is one of the highlights, and proof that the band doesn't need to bash everything out all the time. The bashing sounds pretty good, though, and a couple of the songs like "Tell the World" and "Wild Eyes" match up well with the best work of their influences. This is a fine introduction to the group, and if Vivian Girls stay out of fancy studios and keep cranking out good songs, they might come up with something as classic as Will Anything Happen or Tiger Trap.
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| 01. |  |
All The Time |
1:57 |
|
| 02. | |
Such A Joke |
1:43 |
|
| 03. | |
Wild Eyes |
1:55 |
|
| 04. | |
Going Insane |
1:29 |
|
| 05. | |
Tell The World |
3:36 |
|
| 06. | |
Where Do You Run To |
3:15 |
|
| 07. | |
Damaged |
2:06 |
|
| 08. | |
No |
1:19 |
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| 09. | |
Never See Me Again |
1:41 |
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| 10. | |
I Believe In Nothing |
2:26 |
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10 Total Tracks, 21:27 Total Length
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Credits
- Frankie Rose - Drums // Cassie Ramone - Guitar // Cassie Ramone - Cover Art // Jeremy Scott - Engineer // Jeremy Scott - Mixing
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