Vivian Girls

Vivian Girls | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 30, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: In the Red Records
• ASIN: B001CQP48E
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,700 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Brooklyn band, the Vivian Girls' first record runs Shangri-Las-style pop through a post-punk wringer. Note, for instance, the Public Image Limited intro to "Such a Joke" or the Pixies reference in "No" (entire lyric: "No"). Throughout, superfuzz guitar, subterranean bass, and Moe Tucker beats buoy heavenly harmonies and guest Tim Fiore's unstoppable tambourine. Once the pounding "Tell the World" and spooky-jangly "Where Do You Run To" take up residence in your head, they won't leave anytime soon. You've been warned. Taking their name from the blonde warriors created by the outsider author Henry Darger, the Vivian Girls mix the soft with the hard, the sweet with the sour: it’s the aural equivalent of candy, or Psychocandy. If they aren't the only outfit to perfect this tricky concoction--see the Shop Assistants or the Aislers Set--the Vivian Girls have, in a matter of months, become standard bearers. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Product Description

As recounted in songs by Comet Gain and Walker Kong, the "Vivian Girls" are the seven sisters who feature in Henry Darger's posthumously published fantasy epic, The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What Is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion. Tribute has also been paid by everyone from poet John Ashberry to Sufjan Stevens, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Camper Van Beethoven, Fucked Up, the Residents' Snakefinger, and ex-Maniac Natalie Merchant-and now by Brooklyn noise-pop band the Vivian Girls. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A lost K Records album from 1991?, December 11, 2008

By 

RockerDad (Renton, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vivian Girls (Audio CD)

At times, while listening to the debut album by Vivian Girls, you can't help but think you're listening to some long-lost album by an obscure noise-pop band on Olympia's K Records label from 1991 or so. Their sound (feedback-laced jangly guitars, driving rhythms, and sing-songy girl group harmonies) bears more than a striking resemblance to bands like Heavenly, Talulah Gosh, and even some of the Riot Grrl bands. The clarification comes though, in the songwriting-many of the songs blend in together, with melodies getting lost in the mix. Taken individually, there are certainly many rockin' tunes (All the Time, Tell the World, and No are the standouts), but overall they start to blur. If I was 19 again-I'd probably be insane over discovering this band for myself.
If you enjoy the DIY sounds of K Records bands like Beat Happening and Heavenly, the noisy guitars of the Jesus and Mary Chain or Velocity Girl, or the harmonic sounds of The Raveonettes or The Ronettes-you will surely enjoy Vivian Girls. They have captured a glorious ramshackle sound of the past-now all they have to do is craft some more memorable songs. I'll certainly be listening to hear what they come up with in the future.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't believe the low ratings here, April 25, 2009

By 

Jason Bunch "jdbunch" (Indianapolis, IN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vivian Girls (Audio CD)

I lived through the K records heyday and the paisley underground and nothing from those scenes rocked my world like this. This is an excellent little album far more deserving than the lack of love shown here. Thankfully Pitchfork showed it the love it deserved, placing it in the top 10 albums of 2008.

Mixing elements of punk, surf, shoegaze these girls are at the head of the pack in the new noise pop movement. Along with Wavves they are one of the few bands giving indie rock the kick in the arse it needs. This album blasts away the staleness of all those synth pop bands going at the moment and rocks it oldskool. You cannot love indie rock or punk and not love this album, it is a near perfect debut proving that often times the best music comes in the most unassuming packages.

Can't wait for album number two.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Maybe A New Paisley Underground Isn't Such A Bad Idea, October 21, 2008

By 

Steech (Birmingham, AL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vivian Girls (Audio CD)

When I heard The Vivian Girls, I couldn't believe they weren't from San Francisco. This band sounds like the missing link between Henry's Dress and The Aisler's Set, leaning a little more toward the latter in terms of the band's predilection for sixties-worshiping sonic tapestry weaving.

These songs are faster, shorter, and noisier than the Aisler's. But the songs stop just short of ever dissolving into the shapeless miasma of fuzz Henry's Dress was prone to do.

Imagine The Mamas and Papas on methamphetamines and you sort of get the picture.

This is a fantastic little album. At under 25 minutes, I found it was the perfect length. The only complaint I might find is that there are no stand-out tracks. The band has got their signature sound so thoroughly ingrained that every song sort of sounds the same. That isn't so important when it is, after all, such a joyful noise. But I can understand where it might put some people off.