Hitsville U.K.

THE VIRGINS - THE VIRGINS
The Virgins are the latest "sex, drugs & rock 'n' roll" band to stagger from New York, and also one of NME's tips for 2009. It's fairly obvious why, without even listening to their album. They look like a dangerous, party boy, "lock-up-your-daughters"-type gang, and God knows that there's been a lack of one in music for a while (I don't count Towers Of London because...well they were shit). But when you bring the music into it, then they're deserving of a ones-to-watch tag.

The band used to be a bog-standard garage rock band like a million others in New York after The Strokes broke through, but all of a sudden they've transformed into a disco-pop band, with Nile Rodgers-esque guitar being a major part of most tracks. Sort of a Strokes you can actually dance to. First track "She's Expensive" is a carbon copy of Elvis Costello, "Rich Girls" could be The Teenagers if they were American and "Fernando Pando"'s guitars sound like The Clash in their ska mode.

But enough comparing them to other bands. The Virgins are good enough to stand out on their own. Their sound walks the tightrope between funky indie rock, and straight-up camp disco pop (I get the irony of straight up and camp in the same sentence) and you can imagine it soundtracking all the parties that the cool kids go to (the five tracks from their debut EP has already soundtracked an episode of Gossip Girl). So yeah, check them out and prepare to get your groove on. God I'm cool....
ESSENTIAL TRACKS: "She's Expensive", "One Week Of Danger", "Rich Girls", "Hey Hey Girl", "Radio Christiane", "Love Is Colder Than Death".

7/10