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Vivian Girls announce Memory, first new album in 8 years out 9/20 – listen to “Sick” now + fall tour dates

July 17, 2019

They're baaaaaaaaackkkkk!

Yes, THE Vivian Girls have returned – Memory, their first new album in 8 years, arrives September 20th. Listen to the aptly titled lead single "Sick" below.

Memory is an album filled with personal reflections on toxic relationships, the false promise of new love, mental health struggles, and finding ways to accept oneself amidst it all. Even when we don't know what exactly a Vivian Girls song is about, we know it is true. Fittingly, the sonic textures of the album match this sense of desperation and longing. It's a loud, snarling journey and there's a sense of streamlined direction and intensity to the performances: it sounds like a band returning to a core idea of itself.

Pre-order your copy now from the Polyvinyl Store – get your paws on a hand-numbered, limited edition Test Pressing or the Deluxe Early Bird on 180-Gram Maroon & Green Galaxy Mix. Bonus: Cassie Ramone-created Tarot Deck.

While a reunion record titled Memory may conjure images of a band waxing nostalgic about the halcyon days of yore, Vivian Girls' newest record is anything but a pleasant reminiscence. The latent darkness that always haunted their records is on full display upon their return.

During their initial run as a band, Vivian Girls were a band of outsiders for outsiders. They were the band that made the punks feel like they could sing harmonies and pop fans could get in touch with their anger. Cassie Ramone's lyrics alternated between love, loss and rage. They were heart-on-their-sleeves romantics in one breath and a spiraling explosion of feedback in the next.

After their third album - 2011's Share the Joy - the members of Vivian Girls parted ways and the band who had known each other since they were teenagers, went about the business of living. Katy Goodman and Ali Koehler both moved to Los Angeles, continued making music (La Sera for Goodman, Best Coast and Upset for Koehler) and started families. Ramone continued to make art in Brooklyn, released two solo records and two full-lengths with Kevin Morby as The Babies, and moved to Los Angeles in 2018 after a phone call with Goodman spurred the idea of playing music together again.

With Ramone and Goodman on board, Koehler (the drummer for Vivian Girls' second full-length Everything Goes Wrong) re-joined the band and the trio began playing together again during the spring of 2018, keeping the practices a secret and enjoying the simple communion of playing together. By fall, the members of Vivian Girls were ready to enter the studio and over the course of two sessions in mid-September and Halloween week, Memory was recorded with producer Rob Barbato (Kevin Morby, The Fall). (Please note that during the September session, there was a waxing moon in Scorpio/Sagittarius, sun in Virgo, while during the October session, there was a full moon in Taurus, sun in Scorpio.)

To celebrate the release of Memory, Polyvinyl is pleased to announce reissues of Vivian Girls' acclaimed first two albums - Vivian Girls (2008) and Everything Goes Wrong (2009). Originally released by In the Red, these classic records have been tragically out-of-print for many years, but are both now available for the first time on 180-Gram colored vinyl. Vivian Girls, the band's self-titled debut album (which Pitchfork dubbed Best New Music upon its release in 2008), has also been re-mastered by Heba Kadry at Timeless Mastering.

The band has also announced a fall tour that includes select dates on the East & West Coast, with a few in the Midwest – onsale Friday 7/19, @ 10AM local.