Apr
24
Virginia Jetzt!
April 24, 2005 | Leave a Comment
I don’t know an awful lot about this band except what I get from the CDs but if you’re looking for a good introduction to the current avalanche of German music then you could do a lot worse than ‘Wer Hat Angst Vor Virginia Jetzt’ (note the album is 100% German language). I would’ve given ‘Wer Hat Angst…’ four stars if it weren’t for the filler-heavy second half of the album but that shouldn’t
detract from the brilliantly hopeful, sparkling tunes that spatter the rest of this CD.
Wer Hat Angst Vor Virginia Jetzt!
(100% Who’s Afraid of Virginia Jetzt!)
Jingly. Jangly. Catchy. Standout tracks : ‘Fast Wie Giganten’, ‘Von guten Eltern’.
At times this 4-piece (named after a home-made road sign intended as a declaration of love) can outdo even our own Lightning Seeds on the sugar-and-spice side of things and like Ian Broudie, VJ’s singer, while not possessing the best voice in the world, is perfectly suited to this type of music. Despite the sweetness though, VJ’s music always stops just short of cloying hamminess. Songs such as ‘Fast Wie Giganten’ (Almost Like Giants), the Keane-like ‘Klang’ of ‘Dreifach Schön’ (Three Time as Nice), the sheer light-heartedness jangliness of mini-opener ‘Sie Verlassen Sich auf uns’ (They Depend on Us) with its strings and piano or the uplifting chorus of ‘Von Guten Eltern’ (Of Good Stock) are all brilliantly executed – a great summer album. Anfänger is more of the same but with a slightly mellower, more languid feel helped along no doubt by a liberal dosage of Keane-esque piano. On ‘Weil wir Anfänger Sind’ (‘cos We’re Beginners) VJ even get moody and dramatic in a Yovee-kind of way.
(100% Beginners)
Standout tracks : Das Ganz Normale Leben (The Ordinary Life), Ein Ganze Sommer (A Whole Summer)
Virginia Jetzt aren’t ever going to set the world alight but you can breathe easy playing their music in your car if giving your Gran a lift home.