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Written by Mark Reed
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Saturday, 02 August 2008
 The Virgins were born 25 years too late. Not that this is a bad thing, by any stretch of the imagination. Taking its cue firmly from the early Eighties, this American band, look sound, and feel exactly like what would’ve happened had Elvis Costello and Duran Duran had children. This album, which comes in at a short even-by-1981-standards 31 minutes, is a modern day relic : the songs (and the production) are exactly as if the band had been sealed in Carbon Freeze (alongside Han Solo) since 1980. The songs all pounce along on the relentless upbeat rhythms, and sleekish guitars, of songs that should have videos set on yachts where everyone wears white suits and pale blue ties. Now, this is no bad thing : the music glides along near effortlessly like a classic Eighties band you’ve never heard of, whilst the vocals and melodies sit on top of the backing akin to a immature Elvis Costello. Unfortunately, whilst “The Virgins” has plenty to recommend it, I unfortunately find that as a record, it’s too slight, too short, and too insubstantial as an album to really wholeheartedly endorse. The songs themselves lack a maturity, a depth, or any variation in the original template. Whilst the template is fine, and has many good elements, prolonged exposure reveals its limitations : there’s no humanity or insight in the songs, which race along at a constant level, pitch, speed, and style that becomes unfortunately a uniform, a featureless plain.
Now, for all I know, this record may show itself over repeated and continued listens to have hidden depths, but frankly, I doubt that. It’s a good record, not a great one, that is too short and too uniform to stand out from the pack. And that unfortunately is not enough to make The Virgins an irresistible prospectOnly registered users can write comments.
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