Introducing: The Virgins

Pulling in producers Dave Katz and Sam Hollander, the group’s natural slacker instincts were drilled into shape. “I’ve been told I’m a slacker all my life,” scoffs Nick. “But I think working in this situation was the first time I’ve ever really taken heed to someone telling me to raise my game. I think the compromise and constraints between our slackness and their efficiency is what makes the album.”

The group’s carefree mantras are more at play than ever before on their eponymous debut album. Tracks like the stomping joyride ‘One Week of Danger’ and ‘Rich Girls’ bubble over with an unruly jubilance. The swoonsome ‘Teen Lovers’ invokes a bittersweet lump-in-throat melancholy that hints at the comedown that follows the carnage of the night before. The record is equally as influenced by white-boy ‘80s disco and the bravado of hip-hop, as any of their favourite rock staples like Squeeze.

“The record’s about coming into adulthood in New York without the benefits of having followed all the advice you’ve ever been given,” Donald considers. “It was meant to be an optimistic, fun record about kids who make the opposite decisions from what you’re meant to do. That’s where all our paths cross. At some point we’ve all thought, ‘I don’t give a fuck, I just want to have a really good time tonight and I don’t give a fuck about anything else.’”

The group are a total product of their environment. Donald’s aim is to solely reflect the experiences they come across on a day-to-day basis. Rather than transporting listeners to some far-away mystical land of fantasy, he wants to show what fun people can have in the here-and-now. “New York’s a place that inspired Lou Reed to write ten albums worth of material,” points out Wade.

The band’s love affair with their hometown’s anarchic make-up cuts to the core of every first-pump of every tune. “I will never get over how bravado-orientated and egocentric New York teenagers are,” Donald confesses. “You could be the poorest kid in town, but have a box-cutter and be willing to fight at any moment and they’ll think you’re the coolest guy ever, you could be the richest kid around but you’re willing to punch a cop in the face and you’re just as cool. It doesn’t matter what your background is, as long as you can throw your weight around. That’s what’s made us who we are.”

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