Share the Joy

There are certain things you can always count on from Brooklyn noise-punk revivalists Vivian Girls: skuzzy distorted guitars, driving 4/4 bass lines, syrupy vocal melodies. Sure enough, all of the above can be found on Share the Joy, the trio's third album in four years. But their debut for indie stalwart Polyvinyl stands as their most accomplished album to date because of their willingness to finally stray away from their comfort zone. "The Other Girls" opens the record at six and a half minutes in length, with a psychedelic outro that by itself is longer than most entire songs on their Ramones-inspired debut. While they still have a thing or two to learn from Sonic Youth on how to structure their discordant indie rock jams, that exploratory spirit must be appreciated. Through most of the record, guitarist Cassie Ramone and company drift away from the reverb that dominated their earlier work, placing more confidence in their songwriting and increasingly solid harmonies. As if the Vivs hadn't pledged their allegiance to '60s girl groups enough in the past, "Take It As It Comes" is the group's most Spectorian song to date, complete with a coy spoken word intro. No, Vivian Girls haven't turned into Dirty Projectors, and this certainly is not an "experimental" record. However, it carefully guides the three-piece's target from trendy revivalism and closer to innovation. For the first time, "every song sounds the same" is not an acceptable criticism of a Vivian Girls album.