Reviewing the Vivs
My review of a new CD by a Boston band called the Vivs ran in today’s Boston Globe.
LOCAL ROCK
The Vivs “Mouth To Mouth” (Self-released)
ESSENTIAL SONG: “(You Should Have Seen) The Other Guy’’
This may be a debut album, but the Vivs are well-connected to Boston’s rock ’n’ roll family tree. Singer Karen Harris fronted Edith, and keyboard player and harmony vocalist Terri Brosius played with Tribe. Eric Brosius, Terri’s husband and Tribe mate, produced the album and supplied some extra guitar. The disc was engineered by David Minehan of the Neighborhoods, who also contributed on guitar and tambourine and even added a bit of whistling. And while Jonathan Richman had nothing to do with the CD, he does get a name check on “Take It on the Chin.’’
All those connections would be meaningless without good songs, and Harris provides them, along with some almost-too-clever wordplay (“I never saw the Eiffel Tower. … I’d rather have an eyeful of you’’). A teacher and mother of two, she explores the minefields of domestic life, delivering her tales with a voice reminiscent of Amy Rigby, who created another mom-rock classic, “Diary of a Mod Housewife,’’ in 1996.
The rest of the local band (Matt Magee on guitar, Jim Collins on bass, and Scott Rogers on drums) supplies as many hooks as a pirate family reunion, with a sound that borrows a bit from the country-rock of Lone Justice and the jangle-pop of the early Bangles. (Out tomorrow)