Vivian Girls lead the pack in Los Angeles

February 6, 2010, at The Smell

By Melissa Bobbitt
Published: February 8th, 2010 | 12:45pm

L.A. isn’t very punk rock. It’s high-gloss, pampered lifestyles that are dappled with expensive drug habits. Or if you go a smidge south, it’s a hard-knock rapper’s delight. But it’s definitely not punk.

That is, until you dart down a urine-festered downtown alleyway behind a Mexican restaurante. There, you’ll find The Smell (pun likely intended), a co-op art and music venue that specializes in young acts and provides raucous shows for under $10. This place was built on good ol’ rocknroll.

And so was Brooklyn’s Vivian Girls, a trio weaned on a healthy diet of The Shangri-Las, Bratmobile, and mid-‘90s pop-punk/emo. Though mostly relegated to blog buzz band status, you’d think by the excitement in the crowd that they were the female Beatles (well, bassist Kickball Katie did rock a mean Hofner replica, famously favored by Paul McCartney). In a city too often concerned with looking cool or breaking a manicured nail at a gig, VG inspired a rash of crowd surfers and some not-so-polite circle pits.

Reminiscent of Wavves, the Girls’ punk prowess thrives not in antiestablishment thought but in addressing the immediacy of youth. An impressive a capella take on The Chantels’ “He’s Gone” found the ladies huddled around one mic, slapping tambourines against their bobbing hips, and singing of teen lust lost. Likewise, show-goers nodded empathetically along to “Can’t Get Over You,” a hazy mid-tempo number off 2009’s Everything Goes Wrong (In The Red). Probably because the topic is so relatable and when it happens to you, you feel like the only person who’s ever gone through it. So, to have a soundtrack for such visceral pain is like a hug and a Band-Aid.

The supporting acts, too, embraced the perils of youth in song. Local favorites Best Coast also capitalized on she-surfer rock (and borrowed Vivian Girl Ali Koehler for drums; BC leader Bethany Cosentino returned the favor by jamming with the Girls on one tune). Three-piece Sleater-Kinney replicas Dunes hammered out a fuzz-laden set, and props must be given to their drummer, Kate Hall (formerly of Mika Miko), for boldly wearing a dress behind the kit and caring not that everyone could see her skivvies.

This generation of music fans doesn’t want their rock stars unattainable; they revel in those who are down to earth and probably live in the dorm across the hall. They appreciate the human flaws (VG’s doe-like singer/guitarist Cassie Ramone’s instrument shorted out a third of the way through the 15-song set, but the audience’s transfixion never waned). They don’t need guitar heroes — although Ramone does an applause-worthy Thurston Moore imitation when attacking her ax. They just need some semblance of a melody and a desire to create, and their souls are satiated.

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For more photos from this show visit Venus Zine's Flickr page

Vivian Girls official site

Vivian Girls MySpace page

In The Red