Vivian Girls
Encyclopedia
- This article is about the New York-based band; for other uses, see Vivian Girls (disambiguation)Vivian Girls (disambiguation)Vivian Girls are a Brooklyn-based indie rock group .Vivian Girls may also refer to:*Characters in a multimedia work by outsider artist Henry Darger*Vivian Girls , the debut album by lo-fi/punk band Vivian Girls...
Vivian Girls are an American band from Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
History
Vivian Girls, named after the magnum opus of outsider author Henry DargerHenry Darger
Henry Joseph Darger, Jr. was a reclusive American writer and artist who worked as a custodian in Chicago, Illinois...
, started in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, NY in March 2007 as the trio of Cassie Ramone (guitar/vocals); Katy "Kickball Katy" Goodman(bass/drums/vocals); and Frankie Rose
Frankie Rose
Frankie Rose is a vocalist, songwriter and musician living in Brooklyn, NY. She was formerly an original member of acclaimed garage rock acts Crystal Stilts, Dum Dum Girls, and the Vivian Girls....
(drums/bass/vocals). While only a band for a short while, they recorded a demo CD-R which included five original songs and a Wipers
Wipers
The Wipers were a punk rock group formed in Portland, Oregon in 1977 by guitarist Greg Sage, drummer Sam Henry and bassist Dave Koupal. Wipers were one of the earliest American purveyors of the genre, and the group's tight song structure and use of heavy distortion has been hailed as extremely...
cover, and began to play locally in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
and Katy (Kickball Katy) and Cassie's home state of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. Within the first couple of months they had already developed a strong local following, supporting acts like Jay Reatard
Jay Reatard
Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr. , better known by the stage name Jay Reatard, was an American musician from Memphis, Tennessee. Lindsey was signed to Matador Records...
, Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
and the King Khan & BBQ Show
The King Khan & BBQ Show
The King Khan & BBQ Show was a Canadian Garage rock duo from Montreal, Quebec who mixed doo-wop and punk. The band was composed of former Spaceshits bandmates Mark Sultan and Blacksnake, alias King Khan. Mark Sultan, under the pseudonym BBQ, contributed vocals, guitar, tambourine, bass drum, and...
as well as finding kindred spirits in other locals like Cause Co-Motion!
Cause Co-Motion!
Cause Co-Motion! were an indie/punk/Post Punk band from Brooklyn, New York.- History :New York City quartet Cause Co-Motion! were formed in the mid-2000s by vocalist/guitarist Arno, lead guitarist Alex, drummer Jock and bass player Liam...
, Crystal Stilts
Crystal Stilts
-History:Crystal Stilts was formed in 2003 by Brad Hargett and JB Townsend. After releasing one single and an EP, the pair expanded to five members before signing to Slumberland Records in the US and Angular Recording Corporation in Europe and releasing their debut, Alight of Night, in 2008...
, and Woods, with whom they’ve shared many bills and helped develop a local scene. The band is still very much connected to their home scene.
In March 2008 they released the "Wild Eyes" single on the Plays With Dolls label. With very little promotion and distribution the single became an underground indie hit as it charted on many college radio playlists and garnered positive reviews on the internet.
Recorded in the same session, their debut self-titled LP was released by the Mauled by Tigers label, whose initial pressing of the LP sold out in ten days. During this time, the group signed with In The Red Records
In the Red Records
In the Red Records is an independent record label in Los Angeles, CA formed in 1991 by Larry Hardy. It is known for hosting garage punk related bands on its label....
who released a new single in August 2008. In The Red re-released the Mauled by Tigers record on LP and CD formats in October 2008.
In July 2008 the band underwent a lineup change with new drummer Ali Koehler replacing Frankie Rose. The band then went on an extensive tour that saw them visit the U.S., UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Puerto Rico in two months. Their second album, Everything Goes Wrong
Everything Goes Wrong (album)
Everything Goes Wrong is the second studio album by lo-fi/punk band Vivian Girls, released though In the Red Records in September 2009.The album was named as one of Rough Trade's Top Albums Of 2009, was placed 19th in WUML's albums of 2009 and was featured in Artrocker's Top 100 Albums of 2009...
was released by In The Red in September 2009.
Katy Goodman (Kickball Katy) has formed side project with Cat Power
Cat Power
Charlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...
's Gregg Foreman named All Saints Day, the band has digitally released one self titled EP.
Cassie has a side project called The Babies with Woods
Woods (band)
Woods is an American lo-fi folk rock band from Brooklyn, which formed in 2005.The band's membership now includes singer-guitarist Jeremy Earl, tape-effects technician G. Lucas Crane, bassist Kevin Morby, and multi-instrumentalist Jarvis Taveniere....
bassist Kevin Morby. They have released two 7" singles and a self-titled debut album in February 2011.
The band also featured on the track 'Worse to Come' on noise pop band Male Bonding's debut album Nothing Hurts
Nothing Hurts
Nothing Hurts is the debut album by noise-pop band Male Bonding. It was placed at number 72 in NME magazines '75 best albums of 2010'.-Track listing:# "Year's Not Long" – 2:34# "All Things This Way" – 1:28# "Your Contact" – 1:44...
In August, 2010 Katy (Kickball Katy) announced a solo project called La Sera, which makes lush, dreamy songs of heartbreak, love and death. The first single "Never Come Around" was released on November 16 and A full length eponymous debut was released in early 2011.
In September 2010, it was announced that the third Vivian Girls album Share the Joy would be released in spring 2011 by Polyvinyl Record Co.
Polyvinyl Record Co.
Polyvinyl Record Co. is an American independent record label based in Champaign, Illinois. It has released notable records by of Montreal, Japandroids, Braid, Mates of State and many others.-History:...
, home to of Montreal
Of Montreal
Of Montreal is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. It was founded by frontman Kevin Barnes in 1996, named after a failed romance with a woman "of Montreal." The band is one of the bands of the Elephant 6 collective...
, Japandroids
Japandroids
Japandroids is a Canadian rock duo from Vancouver, British Columbia. The group consists of Brian King and David Prowse . Formed in 2006, Japandroids rose to prominence in 2009 following the release of their debut album Post-Nothing...
, and Deerhoof
Deerhoof
Deerhoof is a musical group consisting of Satomi Matsuzaki, John Dieterich, Ed Rodriguez and Greg Saunier.-Origins:In 1992, Greg Saunier, having recently graduated with a degree in music composition from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, joined a short-lived San Francisco quartet called Nitre Pit, on...
among others.
On February 4, 2011, RCRD LBL
RCRD LBL
RCRD LBL is the premier online destination for free, curated, legal MP3 downloads from the hottest marquee and emergent artists. RCRD LBL delivers free music downloads and more directly to readers with multiple personalized email properties, including the RCRD of the Day email newsletter, RCRD...
shared a download of "I Heard You Say." The song is from their forthcoming album Share The Joy.
Albums
| Year | Album information | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard charts The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine... |
UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
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| 2008 | Vivian Girls Vivian Girls (album) Vivian Girls is the debut album by lo-fi/punk band Vivian Girls, released September 30, 2008.-Reception:According to Metacritic, the album was met to universal acclaim receiving a 81/100 based on 14 reviews....
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| 2009 | Everything Goes Wrong Everything Goes Wrong (album) Everything Goes Wrong is the second studio album by lo-fi/punk band Vivian Girls, released though In the Red Records in September 2009.The album was named as one of Rough Trade's Top Albums Of 2009, was placed 19th in WUML's albums of 2009 and was featured in Artrocker's Top 100 Albums of 2009... |
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| 2011 | Share the Joy Share the Joy Share The Joy is third album by lo-fi/punk band Vivian Girls. The album was released April 11, 2011 on Polyvinyl Record Co.. The album was recorded at Rear House, the studio run by Woods' Jarvis Taveniere .... |
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EPs
| Date | Title | Format | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Live on the Radio (WFMU 9/1/2008) | CD | 150 Hand-Numbered Copies |
| 2009 | Live on the Radio (WFMU 9/1/2008) | LP | 1000 |
Singles
| Date | Single | Backed with | Record label | Format | Other details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Wild Eyes | My Baby Wants Me Dead | Plays With Dolls / Wild World | 7" single | 4000 copies |
| 2008 | Tell the World | I Believe in Nothing & Damaged | Woodsist Woodsist Woodsist is an American record label founded in 2006 by Jeremy Earl of the bands Woods and Meneguar. The label specializes in bands in the lo-fi and punk genre. The label has a sister label, Fuckittapes, which releases Woodsist releases, among others, solely on the cassette format.-Discography:*... |
7" single | 3000 copies |
| 2008 | I Can't Stay | Blind Spot | In the Red | 7" single | 2000 copies |
| 2008 | Surfin Away & Second Date | Girl Don't Tell Me (Wilson) | Wild World | 7" single | 1000 copies |
| 2009 | Moped Girls | Death | For Us | 7" single | 1500 copies |
| 2010 | My Love Will Follow Me | He's Gone (The Chantels Cover) | Wild World | 7" single | 2000 copies |
| 2011 | I Heard You Say | I Won't Be Long | Polyvinyl | 7" single | RSD 2000 copies |
Compilation Appearances
- Live at KEXP Vol.5- "I Can't Stay" (2009)
- Methodist Leisure Inc. freebie funcore punk compilation Short Attention Span - "Snack Attack (Hardcore Mix)" (2009, Methodist)