On the Wagon

Dang it, I love bashing an over-hyped band that doesn't deserve the attention but the Vivian Girls (I can only guess that their band name is a reference to the artist Henry Darger's epic surreal adventure story entitled The Story of the Vivian Girls...) are a favorite in our house, press darlings be damned.

My better half saw them open up for Love is All in NYC and became an instant fan, returning home with all the merch they had for sale including their band shirt on his back. He hates just about every new band so this kind of enthusiasm is rare for him. I took that as a sign that maybe this trio of ladies were worth checking out for myself.

We are big fans of fuzzy jangle twee pop here and Vivian Girls make a lovely racket producing just that. Websites are fast to compare them to The Vaselines or Jesus and Mary Chain but the band's MySpace page list of influences is much closer to the truth - Black Tambourine, The Wipers, and The Shangri-Las. It also wouldn't be a stretch to say if you like the Shop Assistants you would probably like Vivan Girls too.

Their LP was originally pressed on Mauled by Tigers but all 500 copies were instantly snapped up making it scary collectable before its time. (Ebay = $50 and up) For those of you who weren't hip to the band in time to score the original copy In The Red Records has signed the band and is re-releasing the LP in September with a new 7" single coming any day now.

For you local types they are playing in DC at DC9 next Wed, 8/13.