Songkick

On Tuesday I stopped by Mercury Lounge to see Lissy Trullie & the Fibs open for The Virgins. It’s always such a special pleasure to see bands I’m unfamiliar with and be bowled over by the experience. It almost never happens, maybe because I’m too lazy to take chances on unheard of acts, maybe because I have bad luck with unknown bands and only happen to catch bad ones, but Tuesday was a glorious evening. Mercury Lounge fully demonstrated why it’s one of the best places to hear really small acts. Somehow the proportion between the stage and where the audience stands always makes for a really intimate, laid-back evening. You feel like you’re all part of the same experience. Downtown New York was in full effect, but somehow it was the best of that scene: the young and creative out enjoying their friends play some damned good music on a warm New York City summer evening. Did I spot Agness Deyn there? Maybe you can tell me. I definitely saw Cynthia Rowley and Bill Powers there. I’m such a celebrity junkie.

Lissy is irresistible in an androgynous Patti Smith-meets-Edie Sedgwick kind of way, and her low, boyish voice is honest and direct. She’s a born star, you can see it in the way she sings. There is no affectation. Her band is absolutely charming too. It’s so nice to see girls on stage! I can’t find mp3s anywhere, so their MySpace will unfortunately have to do. I’m looking forward to seeing them grow.

After the show, during my compulsive cyberstalking, I found that The Virgins get compared to the Strokes all the time, and it’s precisely the comparison that sprung to mind when I watched them. Maybe a sort of glam Strokes. They’re getting a lot of buzz, what with the power of the mighty aNYthing behind them. But they deserve it. They totally pull off the gangly young boy singing about being young thing with total conviction.

The Virgins – Rich Girls, but check out the other songs on their MySpace.

Thanks for a great evening, Julia.