VIVIAN GIRLS > Everything Goes Wrong

VIVIAN GIRLS

Everything Goes Wrong

(IN THE RED)

[Rating: 3.5 stars]

Last year, Vivian Girls’ self-titled debut exploded into the independent universe, championing ghostly girl punk anthems adorned with tasty three part harmonies. The girls perfected a sound that drew from the Wipers’ upbeat (sometimes) punk and 80’s girl noise artists Black Tambourine. The catch was that the record was inescapably poppy — in a good way. Although girls writing ‘punk’ ditties with three-part harmonies about boyfriends undoubtedly makes punk elitists want to dropkick their Sex Pistols records, these girls sure do make it sound easy.

Their follow up record Everything Goes Wrong doesn’t unearth anything worth screaming “Eureka!” over, but you were foolish to expect anything otherwise. When you’ve got a good thing you run with it, and while that’s not always necessarily true in indie-world, somehow, the girls stumbled upon a great angle to make toe tapping punk gems that continue to be relevant in a time where their flash-in-the-pan colleagues are notorious for hitting home runs, and dropping off the face of the earth. The new record spins with a brooding twinge, but somehow doesn’t veer too far from their reverberating surf-punk sound. The songs have a more glossy veneer with new textures, and seem a bit more developed (for a punk-ish record). In short, Everything Goes Wrong is a solid effort, and while not quite as dazzling as the debut, it’s continuity with their debut sets them up to be a stalwart of the Brooklyn chapter of indie rock.