Viv’s new album ‘Flawed’ feels like the upside of a Dave Grohl mood swing – happy,earnest and direct. It’s a collection of tub thumping indie pop; four minute sing-a-longs infused with sensitivity and driven by crunching guitars and big choruses. Although the San Francisco five piece’s second album contains the occasional echoes of Blink 142 and Foo Fighters et al, it never feels derivative, simply another (excellent) addition to the grunge-pop genre.
We begin by tumbling into ‘Friends’, a celebration of relationships, followed by ‘Did I’ with Matt Ostrander’s vocals sliding over a beautiful two note guitar rhythm sublime in its simplicity.
It’s a strong start to the album – in fact any of the songs on ‘Flawed’ are single material, with twists of guitar and simple, driving beats that evoke sun drenched escapes along the highways of our imaginations – simple yet smart lyrics about love and friendship, guitar solos like vapour trails and Ostrander’s melodic, yelling vocals reminiscent of a bassier Mercury Rev all go to create a US college radio friendly band that is easy to love.
‘Suzanne’s Good Eye’ is a beautiful rock ballad, an offbeat celebration of karma with its mantra:
Down the road/You get what you deserve
And with its slow descending chorus rolling under throaty harmonies, it’s ugly-beautiful in a dreamy, clichéd American kind of way.
‘Bob Dylan Said’ starts like an ambient version of ‘Gimme Shelter’ before emerging as an oblique love song with the faintest traces of New Wave in its stabbing guitars and darker sounding chorus while ‘Shine’ returns to the grunge-lite feel, although the drums sound programmed and are almost drum n bass.
The album isn’t as eclectic as this review may at first suggest – the jangle of guitars and Ostrander’s gravelly whine provide the framework within which the band perform, and while there’s not a lot that’s new here, there is still a lot that’s catchy, uplifting and just downright lovable.
With nine tracks, it’s a short album but there are no fillers: every track has a chorus worthy of prime time radio and as a whole it’s a winning combination of driving simplicity and smart lyrics. ‘Flawed’ is an understated triumph.
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