Rich girls, wild girls, dangerous girls — all kinds of girls populate the Virgins’ self-titled debut.
A blend of Strokes-style garage rock, ’80s new wave and funk, the band’s music backs stories about the New York party scene and the girls in it.
Interviewing singer-guitarist Donald Cumming, one pictures his eyes glazing over as he describes the girl who showed him the movie version of Brett Easton Ellis’s book Less Than Zero.
“(She was) this enigmatic girl, who was older than me and living dangerous — the kind of girl who had interesting things happen around her,” he said. “I had a huge crush on her but was too shy to do anything. She’d come to my house and bring over snacks. We’d get stoned and hang out in my room … One day she came over and brought Less Than Zero, and we watched it, and it was amazing.”
Home in N.Y.C. after a six-week tour of Europe, the 27-year-old grew up watching Heathcliff and He-Man, turning to Ellis and darker interpretations of the ’80s when he reached his teens. About the same time he started hitting clubs. Thursday nights were reserved for ’80s Night at Don Hill’s, where ravers, hipsters and hip-hop kids hung out with scenesters.
Flashing fake IDs turned into modeling for photographer Ryan McGinley — a gig that hooked Cumming up with the rest of the band. Soon he’d made the transition from club kid to performer, and began writing songs that reflect the superficiality of the decade he loves, and performing alongside heavyweights like Patti Smith and Sonic Youth.
Stories about nightclubbing, partying and N.Y.C. life aim to bridge the specific through reaching for universal themes. For example, Cumming aims to rework a nightclub’s door policy into a tongue-in-cheek microcosm of the class system. It might suck getting shut outside, but for Cumming, that’s all part of the fun.
“I remember standing outside the club because I wasn’t allowed in — usually because I was too young — but maybe you’ll get shut out because you don’t look good enough, don’t have the right shoes, are wearing a button-up shirt (or there’s) aren’t enough women with you,” he said. “But standing outside isn’t so bad — I mean, what the f—, it’s all part of the experience. I’ve had some really good times standing outside too. It doesn’t have to define you.”
The Virgins play
Vancouver: The Biltmore Cabaret Friday night.
