Vivian Girls are ready to rock your socks off

Photo by Olly Hearsey

By Meredith Deliso

Sound guys hate the Vivian Girls.

“They hate everything that we love – they hate loud guitars, they hate tons of reverb,” says guitarist Cassie Ramone. “Some sound guys are good, but we’ve met our fair share of sound guys who don’t like these things.”

Because of this, the band, who’s touring with another loud band, Queens-based garage rockers The Beets, this summer, decided to name their month-long tour “Nightmare of Sound.”

“I figured it would be a funny tour name,” says Ramone. “Both bands are going to frustrate sound guys to no end.”

Things won’t be so bad when they kick off the tour, in support of their sophomore album “Everything Goes Wrong,” at Death By Audio August 25. The Williamsburg venue’s a favorite of the band, which formed in Brooklyn a couple years ago while its three members – Ramone, bassist Kickball Katy, and drummer Ali Koehler – were college students.

“About a year ago, we were playing Death By Audio once every three weeks. We played there an insane amount of times,” says Ramone, who’s been hopping around from place to place in Williamsburg before they go on tour, while the rest of the band comes in from New Jersey for their Brooklyn rehearsals. “We haven’t played there in like a year even though that used to be our home base. We’re really excited to be going back there.”

About a year ago, Vivian Girls burst onto the Brooklyn noise scene with their 10-track debut album, a sonic whirlwind of raw pop punk, all coming in at 22 minutes. Niche label In The Red picked up the debut after its initial 500-copy run sold out in 10 days, releasing the debut last fall. They support the trio’s sophomore effort, out September 8.

Coming in at 35 minutes with 13 tracks, the follow-up promises more of the band’s sound, which wears its influences on its sleeve – including The Ramones, as well as ‘60s girl groups and surf pop – but also infuses it with a more modern lo-fi garage rock edge.

“There’s a lot more diversity on the second album,” says Ramone. “The songs are both faster and slower than the ones on the first album. Two songs are over four minutes long, something that was unheard of when we recorded our first album.”

Only just in the beginning stages of working on new material, it’s too soon to tell if their third effort will clock in even longer. Though one thing’s for sure now: they’re be keeping the sound guys on their toes.

The Vivian Girls play Death By Audio (49 South 2nd Street) August 25 at 8 p.m. Also on the bill are The Beets.