I’m not Lester Bangs but here’s my sprawling and self-centered gig review in which I barely review the actual gig.
Sealings were the opening support act and it falls unfair for me to talk about them because they are my friends and I think it’s impossible for me to seperate that when I listen to them. Having said that, I think that Mike and Liam write great riffs cloaked in white noise and Liams vocals suit the mood of the music perfectly. (myspace.com/sealings) I didn’t actually see veronica falls as The venue is in an L shape and was very busy. They sounded good however I was distracted by the people in front of me looking at me weirdly as I leaned on the wall on my own. I should definitely be used to this by now. The crowd at the Jericho was slightly less annoying than usual however there were still people who decide it’s worth moving through 100 people to get to the bar and then coming back to your original position…anyway Vivian Girls were excellent and I think that when you see them live you see just how ridiculous it is for lazy music journalists to say they aren’t talented musicians. It’s a sound that is crafted to suit the sentiment behind the songs. Songs like “I believe in nothing” sound better without crisp clear production. Whilst I am guaranteed to hate any article about punk as a revolution I do think it was important musically in allowing the importance of feeling the music creates over techical ability. Although you could argue that Bob Dylan and folk had already done this a band like Yes were applauded for having an essay in their sleeve notes about how the album was split into shakras. This was definitely a bad thing. The main thing I like about Vivian Girls is that they are a band who could only exist now in a strange way. My indie pop cd from rough trade contains the blueprints for their sound. Even if they hadn’t heard most of the bands on it I like that a style of music from English satelite towns in the late 80s has made it to New York now. The spread of music feels a lot easier now and a lot less regional.
