Quite the eclectic and electric bill tonight at The Lounge on Elm Street. It's always a good thing to get all these acts heading to SXSW, huh?
Headlining is Brooklyn's all female, pop/punk trio Vivian Girls, a youthful group of gals that has been around since 2007 and released Everything Goes Wrong, the band's sophomore album, late last year. What's really impressive about these girls is that they mine an influence that probably predates their own grandparents; mixed in with their DIY punk ethic is a good dose of classic '40s and '50s doo-wop. One wonders if one of one of these gals simply stumbled upon an old crate filled with 45s by the like of Frankie Lymon and The Del-Vikings. Whatever the case, the sound of Vivian Girls is an interestingly rough mix of sweet and sour, songs that defy you not to sing along, even if everyone is a bit out of tune.
Setting up Vivian Girls is Los Angeles' Abe Vigoda, which seems to make its way through our area quite often. That's better for everyone, though, seeing that this band's wall-of-noise style of art/punk is much better experienced in person. And the dual shouting of guitarists Juan Velazquez and Michael Vidal is as visceral as a coffee enema. Abe Vigoda's most recent Reviver EP may also be the best thing the band's done to date.
Also on tonight's bill? Two bands from across the pond: England's Male Bonding and Lovvers. Male Bonding's full-length debut will be released on Subpop in May and it's a tidy 30 minutes of noisy pop-punk.
Lovvers, on the other hand, plays punk the straight-up, old-fashioned way, a la three chords and a raspy throat. Not quite as interesting as Male Bonding, but a nice change of pace on a bill heavy on the art side of the racket equation.
Update: Contest is over.
