Listen to “Island Girl”, a new song by New York band The Virgins.
Back in high school I would stay up till ungodly hours, partly because of my lack of organization, partly because of the crazy workload I had and partly because I couldn’t help but stray from my academic duties to instead researching music, something I’ve always loved to do. It was in one of these late night hunts that I stumbled across New York’s The Virgins.
This must have been around 2007 or so, and the band had just put out a killer (I repeat, KILLER) EP, simply titled “The Virgins ’07″ (listen on Spotify), comprised of some rough around the edges pop rock not to dissimilar to what bands like The Strokes had been doing years prior. I loved that the songs were perfect ear candy, full of funky bass lines, sweet guitar riffs and huge choruses but maintained a lo-fi production that made them raw and slightly off-kilter. As I was going through a bit of a Strokes phase, the songs were an extremely welcome discovery. Songs like “Rich Girls”, “Love Is Colder Than Death” or “Radio Christine” (despite being only a demo) were undeniable, and showed incredible promise for a the young band. “One Week of Danger” showed they were just as clever as they were good songwriters, with an incredibly funny girl themed chorus in the classic “girl falls in love boy doesn’t” scenario. My personal favorite, though, was “Fernando Pando”, mostly for personal reasons, which showed the band bring the tempo down a bit and present somewhat of a touching story.
When their self-titled album came out, in 2008, I went ahead and bought it, hoping to discover more of the band’s magic. To my disappointment, though, the rawness of the band’s original material was nowhere to be found. Instead, everything was polished to a point where it was almost like pouring sugar into my ears. All of the songs on that original EP were still on the album, but everything sound clean, distortion exchanged for shine. On “Rich Girls” the band lost the grit but at least was able to keep the groove, making it not too big of a deal, and the slowed down version of “Love Is Colder Than Death” was actually a pleasant change, though the original still eggs just ahead of it. The rest of the songs on the EP, though, lost much of their appeal over layers and layers of post-production, and most of the other songs just went for the easy hook and radio appeal instead of trying to find real grooves.
It became clear, then, that The Virgins had seemingly sold out, opting for a much more commercial appeal that for making a name for themselves based on their music. They landed spots in commercials, TV shows and God knows what else, and became a bit of a laughing stock. Personally, I clung to those initial recordings as evidence that band knew what they were doing and were damn good it. I just kept hoping for some new material to point which direction they would be going in.
And now, three and a half years after the unfortunate album, the band is back. Just a few days ago, on their Facebook page the band linked to a Bandcamp, saying “new music coming soon”, which got me awfully excited. The link led to a song called “Island Girl”, and I clicked anxious to see what had become of the New York band. To my surprise, gone was all (and I mean ALL) of the shine, replaced instead by a thick layer of fuzz that covered the whole track.
Underneath the fuzz, though, there were (what seemed to be) keyboards (though they could also be guitars, it’s hard to tell), and vocals, with seemingly little else musically. There noises and squeaks layered throughout the mix, but at its core, the song is just vocals and the keys/guitars. The best thing about it, though, is that the song is still catchy, even under the haze, and it’s been stuck in my head all day.
“Island Girl” has left me really intrigued for this new lo-fi version of The Virgins and I can’t help but wonder when the music is coming and what it’s going to have in store. Until then, I’ll continue to visit the bands early material and this new single. According to the band’s MySpace (which they surprisingly still use) they’re currently unsigned, which is good news if it means the grit is back for good.
Listen and download the track below, and, if you haven’t, be sure to check out the band’s early work. If you like danceable, groove-inducing pop rock you won’t be disappointed, I assure you. Let us know what you think in the comments, and stay tuned for more news from the band.
