I’ve always personally adoredthe lo-fi 60s girl-group stuff that the Vivian Girls presented in their first full-length release. But when many people claim that the trio was merely a one trick pony, I didn’t bother to defend them-- because I knew it was true. Their sophomore effort, Everything Goes Wrong, aren’t here to prove the protester’s opinions have gone amiss. In fact, this latest record feels like a 13 song extension to their previous album. They offer nothing ground-breaking nor genre-defining-- just straight up lo-fi indie pop with dashes of punk rock influences. And the worst part is, I can’t seem to find fault with it. Having liking lo-fi music for quite awhile now, I’ve learnt not to build up expectations. Most bands in the lo-fi cluster, remain in obscurity albeit with a healthy and steady following. Vivian Girls may be a band that will continue making the same formulaic songs, and for as long as they do, some of us will continue listening to it.Everything Goes Wrong doesn’t exceed expectations as a full album, but the record’s best cuts are highlighted by tracks such as, ‘The End’ and ‘The Desert’. Rollicking guitar hooks and 60s girl-group three-part harmonies at its finest moment. There are Ritalin-fuelled riffs kicked out with reckless abandon, machine-gun snare hits and shimmering harmonies embedded in their grungy soundscape. Moodier than its predecessor, Everything Goes Wrong may not hold quite the same instant appeal as their 2008 debut, though the lyrical content still dwells almost exclusively on matters of the heart. Yet this is unselfconscious bash-bash guitar pop, and though the Vivian Girls continue to divide opinion, their latest pile of playful punk may prove hard to resist. (The Skinny.co.uk)
|mp3| Vivian Girls - The End
|mp3| Vivian Girls - When I’m Gone
|mp3| Vivian Girls - Out for the Sun
