It’s their party

The Vivian Girls, in what is known
as the realm of DIY fun

DIN IN THE DEN: Vivian Girls

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

Brooklyn’s Vivian Girls take their name from the weird, hermaphroditic characters that populate the voluminous 15,145 pages of outsider artist Henry Darger’s graphic fantasy manuscript The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What Is Known as the Realms of the Unreal of the Glandeco-Anglelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion (phew!). Darger was a janitor by day and filled his sleepless nights with work on his book, posthumously discovered by his former landlords.

“Actually, the name is something our old drummer came up with,” says guitarist/singer Cassie Ramone. “We needed a name really fast because we had a show coming up and it was just something we all thought sounded good. I didn’t actually know about Darger until after the fact.”

That may be, but the name does seem apt. Just like some of the characters of Darger’s sprawling epic, these ladies’ DIY indie pop definitely has balls. Mixing in the out-of-bounds sounds of the B-52s, the girl-group swoon of the Shangri-Las, the Raincoats’ sweet harmonies and some no-wave from noisy neighbours currently bursting out of their postal code, the Vivian Girls know how to bring the party to their pop. The Mirror spoke with Ramone over the phone as she got ready for the Girls’ upcoming tour.

Mirror: The Brooklyn scene seems to be going stronger than ever. Would you say that the Vivian Girls are a product of that fertile scene?

Cassie Ramone: It definitely encouraged us. There is something special with that scene because there are so many different bands of all these different styles that all hang around each other. Because of that, you can’t help but be exposed to all these different kinds of music, which can only be good.

M: You’ve also played a lot of DIY venues in New York, like guitar-pedal manufacturer and venue Death By Audio. Are these underground venues still doing well?

CR: Yeah, a lot of these venues are also people’s homes. There have been a lot of people that have converted their living rooms and lofts into venues, and that’s been really awesome. Those kinds of places definitely promote much more of a sense of community than, say, a place that is just trying to sell you some Budweiser or whatever.

M: It’s funny that you play these living rooms, but when you played Montreal a month ago, it was at a huge venue [Metropolis] with TV On the Radio.

CR: That was so much fun. It was really an eye-opener. We did three shows with TV On the Radio at these huge places, but that Montreal show was especially great. It was fun but a little overwhelming, so we’re looking forward to playing a smaller show there. We definitely feel more at home playing small places.

M: In the background of your sound, I detect a B-52s influence.

CR: We all love the B-52s and think they’re one of the best bands ever. If we could have an ultimate birthday party, they would definitely be the band playing. Actually, now that I think about it, it would be even cooler if Billy Joel would play at that party too.

With Crystal Stilts and Double Dip at
Zoobizarre on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 9 p.m., $10