Vivian Girls, London Proud Galleries

February 14th, 2009

Proud Galleries, a venue right at the heart of Camden’s Stables Market, proved to be an ideal setting to witness the much-hyped Vivian Girls’ first visit to the UK in 2009. Converted from an old horse hospital, with individual stables retained, serving as smaller bars or separate booths, there aren’t many other venues in London where you’ll find yourself standing on cobbles, watching projections as the bands’ equipment is set up.

Support came from the brilliantly-named Desmond and the Tutus, a South African four-piece who specialise in an infectious take on dance-punk (remember that?!). There were a few diehard fans in the audience from the get-go, but the band managed to win over more and more people as their set progressed. With an unstoppable rhythm section, a penchant for introducing odd dance crazes, and a lot of unbridled enthusiasm, Desmond and the Tutus made an immediate impression.

Vivian Girls followed soon after, clearly equally as excited to be playing in London after a short European tour. Noting that it was Valentine’s Day, they wondered, doubtfully, whether anyone had successfully managed to convince their partner to come to their gig on the most romantic day of the year (quite a few had). Heavy on the reverb, Vivian Girls’ take on the wall of sound via My Bloody Valentine was condensed into several short, sharp opening songs, including ‘All The Time’, their album’s cacophonous opener propelled by cymbal crashes and harmonies.

While Vivian Girls don’t exactly peddle love songs in the traditional sense, they tread a fine line between noise and pop sensibilities live, meaning that those looking for Valentines sentiments could find them in songs such as ‘Tell The World’ and its unashamed pop joy, hidden behind a wall of guitars, thick fringes and almost expressionless vocals, of course. Like so many of their songs, its driven by Ali Koehler’s insistent drums, and chugging, churning guitars, though it’s the girls’ detached harmonies that hook you in and pull you under the noise, almost.

Songs like ‘Such A Joke’ and ‘Going Insane’ came and went at such a pace, like blink-and-you’ll-miss-them slices of gorgeous noise-pop. As a result, you can forgive Vivian Girls for stretching out one or two songs by the end of their short set and disposing of their pop hooks (their album is, of course, only 22 minutes long). By the last song, they’d all swapped instruments and had finally given the noise free reign.

Vivian Girls’ set was ample reward for those who have spent the last few months with their short, addictive debut album, and, for those who haven’t, an incentive to get their hands on a copy as soon as possible.