Released: 20/04/09

The art work for The Virgins’ self titled first album is a white background splattered with bright, already chewed bubble-gum. A picture of the band on the reverse shows all four band members blowing bright blue bubbles or pulling long strings of gum out of their mouths. These boys like a bit of pop.

Their debut album has a 1950’s whimsical and innocent sound at first listen, very much reflecting their band name – straight out of a Grease-type musical. But on listening a little deeper, the lyrical content is much more explicit than any American burger-joint band I’ve heard before. Lines such as; “Well is there something that you wanted from her? Yes, I want her legs, her body and her cash,” are an interesting contradiction to their American retro sound.

Think The Cars, Elvis Costello and The Beach Boys mixed up and churned out modern. Ultimately the lyrical and musical contradiction is what makes The Virgins’ album a successful, fresh sound, rather than a bubble-gum and candy-pop quick fix treat. Yes, some of the melodies are a little predictable but that’s OK, it’s comforting in this instance. So are the call and response singing techniques and lead singer Donald Cumming’s youthful voice.

The bass and drum partnership really holds most of the songs together, giving the impression that they were built around the bass, with the melody and harmony sort of decorating the centre piece but never over shadowing it. A majority of the songs are layered with synth samples but this album is different from the electro-indie sound currently very popular, mainly because of its unabashed enjoyment of a bit of pop and high school cheese; the band even featured on popular teen drama, Gossip Girl. Particular favourite songs to look out for (or hear live when the boys swing into Bristol’s Thekla on Wednesday 15th April) are the released single, Rich Girls and She’s Expensive.

www.thevirgins.net

Agatha Knowles