Virtually every Vivian Girls song unfolds the same way—that instant noisy energy burst, a surfy bubblegum-pop melody, the layered chick-on-chick vocals, all enveloped in messy lo-fi production, with a running time under three minutes. And you know what? It’s a fun freaking formula. No matter how many times I hear it, I want to hear it again. And again. And again.
The Details
Almost as soon as the Brooklyn trio hit hipster blogs last year, the predictable backlash followed: They’re derivative; their debut “album” is barely 20 minutes long; the lyrics don’t say anything; and of course, all their songs sound the same. So what? When music makes you feel good, why fight it? Because Vivian Girls mimic apparent heroes like The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Clean and Motown girl groups? Let’s not punish them for having good taste.
And they are developing. Second disc Everything Goes Wrong is a marked improvement on last year’s debut—the hooks are stronger, the playing is tougher, and it’s half again as long (36 minutes this time). Best yet, final track “Before I Start to Cry” sounds, well, different; its unhurried, pulsating shoegaze comes as a sign that, good as these Girls are at doing that one thing, they might also be capable of doing others well, too.
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