Vivian Girls

If you have something to say, say it quickly and say it loud. Even if you have nothing to say, say it quicker and louder. The Jesus and Mary Chain often managed to do it in 20 minutes. It is this ethos which sums up the The Vivian Girls. Things will be described in such a fashion, herein.

Stick some choral harmonies atop foot-stomping hardcore and you have roughly what they sound like. Barely a song exceeds two-minutes, but they don't really need to. Each one is a riotous noise, pounding drums, droning guitar and driving bass. The harmony placed atop it resonates.

To place the Brooklynites on a spectrum is a bit of a waste of time. Nevertheless – the racket they make is hardly new but they lie somewhere between modern contemporaries Wavves and Crystal Stilts. In fact, founder and former drummer Frankie Rose joined Crystal Stilts. The latter do everything the former do but better, quicker and with more three-part harmonies. Not that Crystal Stilts are prone to over-embellishment and indulgence, but Vivian Girls are completely devoid of any excess. If it doesn't need to happen it doesn't happen and everything which happens here is entirely necessary. There's just no flab.

'All The Time' opens up - it's a beautifully thrown together cacophonous construction with something approaching a melody and comprehensible lyrics. 'Where Do You Run' is over three-minutes. It's worth it, though. As much of a ballad as we'll get tonight. 'Wild Eyes' features a guitar solo and all three contribute to the vocal wall of verse and chorus. 'No' is a whiny one - the title word is the only lyric, repeated about 40 times in 80 seconds. It's sure to be about love or heartbreak.

The final “long”-jam sees a three-minute burst before the ol' Arcade Fire trick of everyone swapping instruments. It's hard to think of a band who are much further away from that Canadian seven-piece or whatever they are but here we have a band who are several oceans worth of accordions, marimbas, steel drums and cellos away. Guitars are left next to amps briefly, feedback pierces the ears before normality, if you can call it that, is resumed with a vengeance.

20 minutes is quite long enough get your fill of the Vivian Girls. 30 minutes means it's almost torturous to see them finish. 35 minutes and you think “they must've really liked us...”. It's a distinct possibility that more time is spent by the audience showing appreciation than actually playing.

Yes. Everything tonight is of the same mold, but so was everything The Ramones ever did. It's unlikely that in ten years time many people will be discussing Vivian Girls' impact and their career may end up drawing comparisons to their attitude to making music but Vivian Girls are to be enjoyed in the here and now. My knuckles are rapped raw from incessant tapping on the bar and, for all the fury and feedback, The Vivian Girls are one band I don't mind losing a little bit more of my hearing for.