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A Night Out with the Vivian Girls Takes Me Back to My 20’s, Somehow the Music Still Sounds the Same
Photo: James Palmar
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I was barely legal when I started booking my first rock ’n’ roll and punk concerts. Working at my college radio station allowed me access to my favorite bands, which quickly lead from live on-air interviews to securing them concerts. Indie groups like the Archers of Loaf and Teenage Fanclub came by the station, as did more popular groups including George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic. It wasn’t until I saw the Vivian Girls perform this winter that I understood what my older, wiser, record-store owning roommate once told me in the mid-90’s when I was thinking about no longer booking bands, “Once you leave, someone takes your place, it never gets any bigger. The scene will always be the same.”
My friend’s words rang true when I showed up for the “Sounds Like Brooklyn” performance with Vivian Girls opening up for Les Savvy Fav at Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House in late January. Being a frigid night, concert-goers poured inside the venue, and quickly stripped off layers of clothing so that they could lubricate themselves with a beer before the performance started. It was very much a New York show, and the fashion—tight jeans, plaid shirts, bearded men, furry hats—reminded me of the scene I used to associate with when I was the same age as Cassie, Katy, and Ali, 23-24, the women that make up Vivian Girls. They play guitar, bass and drums, respectfully.
I was kind of blown away that the sounds coming from the stage reminded me of what I listened to just over a decade ago; lo-fi, jangly, and sometimes fronted by a female singer. These were groups coming out of mostly the Pacific Northwest and California. It was the time when a compilation on Kill Rock Stars meant something. Vivian Girls’ song, “Can’t Get Over You” exemplifies the feeling of nostalgia I was experiencing. The repetitive lo-fi three and half minute ditty is derivative of songs written by groups like The Tourettes. You can also hear tidbits of Portland’s Team Dresch mixed in the band’s influences including early Motown groups (Shangri-Las) and possibly grittier pop songs by the Wipers, whom they all listen to.
Coincidentally, they each picked up their first instrument in band during elementary school. Despite their parents’ wishes to start with a “prettier sounding instrument,” guitarist Cassie chose saxophone, as did bassist Katy, while drummer Ali chose the clarinet over her mother’s preference of the flute. Katy laughs before saying, “We all picked instruments that aren’t stereotypical girl instruments. When I moved onto bass, my fingers weren’t very strong. It was painful to even hold down a fret.” Showing me how she rocks out on stage, she swayed to the right then the left, moving her fingers up and down her air bass, suggesting she has no problems now. When asked what songs were on each of their iPods or turntables the answer was quite incestuous. “It’s embarrassing,” Ali pauses, before admitting to having the Vivian Girls’ “Everything Goes Wrong” single on her turntable, “Because I never heard it on vinyl…it sounds good!” Cassie confesses that, “I’m listening to The Pot and the Kettle, Ali and Katy’s old band.”
After we bonded about Cassie’s knack for collecting dream catchers (she currently has four of them that she’s picked up at gas stations during tour) I closed the interview with a comment. I told the Vivian Girls that their raw energy encapsulates the sound of these Pacific Northwest and California female led bands that I used to listen to at their age. In unison they smiled and said thanks. After their nearly hour-long set at BAM, I left wondering how music has come full circle. Then I turned on my iPod and let those songs that meant something to me when I was in my 20’s take me back.
Vivian Girls play March 28th at the Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg.