It’s nice to know that Scotland has more to offer than Glasvegas. Poking one in the eye for lively upstarts everywhere is the debut single from The Vivians, a relentless and simple number full of a vibrancy that stops you from writing off an over-subscribed genre completely.
‘A Human Angle’ is, as Alan Partridge would say, textbook. It contains simple, repeated riff, a fast beat and a catchy chorus. It stands out by drawing from indie-dance sources when producing an indie-rock song. There’s elements of Bloc Party and The Rapture to this, and both songs have that funky urgency to them to stop these songs being just average.
It’s possible to adhere to the indie rock formula without being boring, and The Vivians are a fine example of this. They play well together, creating an exciting wall of guitars than run throughout. It’s a single that makes you want to go and see them live. B-side ‘Divided We Stand’ sounds like an acceptable version of The Wombats, if such a thing can exist.
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The music press gets excited about bands similar to The Vivians on a weekly basis, many for no good reason at all. They have the simple riffs and a non-experimental ethos, but they also have the tunes. The Vivians deserve any attention that they get – to make simple exciting is a huge achievement.
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