VIVA VIVA: WHAT’S THE KIM DEAL? EP

GENRE | ROCK. PERIOD.
VERDICT | WORTH THE HADES TO-AND-FRO
LABEL | FORT POINT RECORDINGS
RELEASE | 6.5.12
THISISVIVAVIVA.COM

To understand exactly why Viva Viva is a rare, reverb-breathing rock outfit is to look at the sum of its parts. Here, we’ve got six musicians, each treating their given instrument as an extension of themselves and matching the other five for intensity, volume, and tone independently. We’ve got the snarls of Chris Warren, the brightness behind Fumika Yamazaki-Burdett keys, Dave Cave and his tambourine, and the layered harmonies you’d never expect out of a band that speaks of pissing in wishing wells like it ain’t no thang.

They’re a demonstration in balanced contrast, and that’s why What’s the Kim Deal? measures up to 2010’s self-released self-titled record so effortlessly. As we can hear from single “Hailing A Cab In Hell,” Viva Viva has continued to hone their chops, lyrically and instrumentally speaking.

They remain a force to be reckoned with, and it sounds as though they won’t be stopping anytime soon.