By: Will Pinfold
Vivienne The Witch | facebook | bandcamp | soundcloud |
Equal parts sloppy and grungy, there’s a casual, lo-fi charm to the début album by Italian girl-punk trio, Vivienne The Witch that is (intentionally) reminiscent of the heyday of underachieving 90s indie and grunge. Apologies are due in advance for comparing the band almost exclusively to other female alt-rock bands, as if that was a genre of music, but in fact VTW’s promotional material suggests that those are exactly the terms in which they see themselves; which is fair enough.
Judging by the advertised reference points (Babes In Toyland, Hole, L7) the band feels a kinship with the heavier, more gender-politicised end of the grunge spectrum, but in fact Shadowbox has an endearingly cartoonish, snotty power-pop appeal that is more like the immortal Lunachicks or (more recently) Argentina’s unmissable Las Vin Up. In keeping with the 90s vibe, there’s also an occasional twist of rattly UK Riot Grrrl indie in the less fiery tracks, not to mention just plain ‘indie rock’, in places, such as ’Time’, one of the least abrasive tracks, which sounds as much like late/Britpop era Lush as anything else.
Despite all of the above though, Shadowbox is more than a derivative nostalgia trip. The key point is the songwriting; VTW’s songs are extremely catchy and accessible and, within the limits of garage rock, fairly varied. The band is appropriately tight-but loose and the mix of fuzz guitar, warm bass, clattering percussion and great vocals (both lead and harmony) carry off the feel of the indie chart c.1992 with aplomb, but crucially, with a strong character of their own.
Songs vary from the jaunty ‘MMMBop’-meets L7 ‘A Sparkling Explosion’ to the authentically grungy ‘Bad Dog’, but Shadowbox remains a coherent whole. Although the band/label emphasises the grunge factor, the band’s pop songwriting skills are important; in terms of heavy intensity Vivienne The Witch seriously lose out to bands like Le Butcherettes or the aforementioned Babes In Toyland – but that doesn’t diminish the quality of their songs or the enjoyableness of the album. Good, vibrant and definitely fun; not life-changing, but Vivienne The Witch probably don’t expect it to be.
