Music / They’re melodic, easy to remember, and they won’t let you forget their hooks. Layered with harmonies that declare importance, choruses and transitions will have you stuck with The Vivian Girls in your head even after one quick run through their frenetic yet soothing 21-minute self-titled debut. Their follow-up, Everything Goes Wrong, was released last month.

They’re one of those groups that feel like they’re on the verge of doing something important. These self taught, do-it-yourself musicians are still in their rock fame adolescence–still unscathed by mainstream PR makeovers and the glittery light shows that garnish live performances. For now, Vivian Girls let their music do the speaking, let their fans do the bragging, leave excess behind and eventually climb their way up to what, Madison Square Garden? Fenway Park? Whatever. As long as people uncontrollably grin as soon as a Vivian Girls song hits their senses, these girls have done their job.

The members of the trio have had what have probably been the fastest two years of their lives.

“We all have been in bands since we were teenagers,” says drummer Ali Koehler. “Like punk bands playing in the basement with our friends and stuff. That’s basically where we come from; playing basement shows in New Brunswick, New Jersey and playing lofts and punk houses in Brooklyn and stuff.”

But their days out of the spotlight were short.

“Our first album was put out by our friend’s label, Mauled by Tigers, a bunch of punk kids just putting it out for fun,” says Koehler. “Originally, they wanted to put out 350 copies. Then they were like, ‘let’s do 500.’ We didn’t think there were 500 people who were going to want it. But it wound up selling [out] in 10 days.”

With all of the electronic buzz and over-polished studio perfection we experience on the radio and television today, Vivian Girls remind us that simplicity is often best when it comes to songwriting. Slurry reverb-drenched guitars chunk rhythms more often than intricate leads, but accent every melody in a way that makes perfect sense.

Koehler tells us it’s lead singer and guitarist Cassie Ramone writing the songs that are so hard to forget. “When she’s home she kinda just writes songs,” says Koehler. “She’s pretty prolific, she would be writing songs whether she was in a band or not. ”

The girls haven’t been at home all too often, though. Koehler says the band has been touring non-stop since she joined up in July of last year. And about that 500 copies in 10 days thing?

“It sold out insanely fast, which generated a lot of interest because there was this new band and no one could get their record,” says Koehler. “So it was reissued under In The Red, and I think it sold like 20,000 copies or something, which is insane.”

Some of their In The Red label mates include bands like Thee Oh Sees and Strange Boys, all of which Koehler says are bands that they enjoy listening to.

“We’ve been listening to a lot of this band called Yellowfever, which our label is putting out soon,” says Koehler. “They’re from Austin. We listen to a lot of Woods, they’re Brooklyn peers of ours. Hole, Wipers, Nirvana, stuff like that.”

It probably won’t be long before ’90s throwback themes for art, fashion and music are upon us, just as the ’80s have been for years now. The ’90s had to have been a big influence on Vivian Girls and last year they got a nail-biting moment to remember courtesy of one of that decade’s seminal acts.

“I think I speak for the other two when I say that it was collectively one of the best days of our lives,” says Koehler. “I mean, it’s Sonic Youth. Sonic Youth are idols of ours for sure. They’re definitely people to look up to so we were honored to play with them. We totally love ’90s rock and all that stuff.”

Another ’90s icon–the Internet–and the music industry have had a love/hate relationship from the start. On one hand, you have Napster breaking the heart of that angry drummer guy from Metallica. On the other, you have indie artists using the internet as one of their most valuable resources. Smart musicians like Vivian Girls understand this in terms of distribution or collaboration. Koehler says, “I think it’s definitely made DIY music kind of the norm because everyone has access to one another. So you can’t really suffer as an underground band, you can actually get your music out there. We have friends in London, the West Coast who we wouldn’t be able to keep in touch with or share ideas with without the Internet.”

So let’s see: selling 500 copies of your first album in 10 days–check. Opening for one of your favorite groups–check. Seeing the world by means of your passion–check. The Vivian Girls have it pretty much set.

“I’m really excited to head to Hawaii,” says Koehler. “I never thought I’d have an opportunity to go there.” Yeah, going to Hawaii is kind of on that big check list for most people.

Before I Start to Cry