Everything Goes Wrong

Ali Koehler's surging drumming and Cassie Ramone's distorted, surfy guitar are compelling enough to make Everything Goes Wrong an entertaining 36 minutes.

Vivian Girls have responded in a way I never saw coming. Everything Goes Wrong is, proudly and brilliantly, a long player.

Everything Goes Wrong is almost sickeningly good: songs are tight, short and fun, none outstay their welcome, all leave something behind in your brain as they rush to completion on a wave of multi-layered vocals, euphoric guitars and wall-of-chrome production. [Oct 2009, p.119]

Young, smart, pissed-off, ultra-basic, but also competent and powerful, these youngsters fire off brisk, bubblegum tunes in proud thrall to Da Brudders, and, by extension, girl-groups of the '60s. [Dec 2009, p.96]

It's weirdly kind of a grower. There's nothing that immediately jumps out and announces itself as the 'Where Do You Run' of Everything Goes Wrong.

The songs are brief, noisy bursts, bratty but walloping. Rock diehards might scorn the weak solos, but Vivian Girls compensate with rock-solid rhythm and roughshod passion.

While there's merit to the charges that songs suffer from sameness and that musicianship is a secondary facet of the band, the Girls' detractors don't consider tradition; walking in the footprints of Bikini Kill, Ramones, and other like predecessors who faced similar criticisms, their flaws serve to be their most interesting, differentiating features.

Their "1-2-3-go!" rush--built around Cassie Ramone's scratchy guitar and Ali Koehler's insistent drums--is a thrill.

It’s also not a record where you’re instantly gripped round the neck, it’s more a gradual clamping before nails start to dig deep into the skin.