Some music is so far ahead of the curve that time is yet to catch up, and that’s definitely the case with Vivabeat. Formed in 1978, the band’s unique brand of music still sounds futuristic, as if beamed back to the present from an age yet to come. It’s blatantly obvious why they caught the ear of Peter Gabriel, who was instrumental in getting the band signed to Charisma Records, for whom they released their debut studio album Party In The War Zone (reviewed here). However, back in the early 1980’s it was on stage where bands such as Vivabeat were judged, a place where reputations were won and lost, and Live In Los Angeles finds them passing scrutiny with flying colours.

That Vivabeat’s sound transferred effortlessly from studio to stage shouldn’t come as a surprise because each member had a long a storied history in various new wave and punk bands (including legendary groups such as Backstage Pass and Human Sexual Response). Retaining the energy and freedom that punk offered whilst adding a musical proficiency and love of melody, Vivabeat offered a glimpse of how the future could have sounded had their album gained more traction. It’s seven tracks from the famous Whisky A Go Go venue that kicks things off and finds the band in suitably raucous mode: razor sharp and angular, the band display an obvious chemistry and handle all the time changes that pepper songs such as ‘Not Dead Anymore’ with consummate ease. Stylistically, these seven songs from the Whisky could draw comparisons with Talking Heads and Television, and find Vivabeat beating their sound into shape, yet the likes of ‘I’m Right’ have one eye on the horizon and signpost the musical territory Vivabeat would later chart.

Fast forward four years and the band were captured on tape at an FM Station. The intervening years found Vivabeat refining things, becoming a far more nuanced beast and inserting more space into their tunes with ‘Grey, Grey, Grey’ (so good they named it thrice) and ‘Shine’ placed into a time capsule and sent deep into the hereafter. These tunes could soundtrack the acidic visions of David Lynch at his most darkest, peeling back a thin veneer and offering a frightening glimpse of suburban America hidden behind the curtain. There’s a definite cinematic feel to these songs that brings to mind Rumble Fish and Alphaville, rendering them three-dimensional, living entities.

‘Man From China’ is perhaps the band’s best known song, but the version included here (from Lhasa, 1983) is arguably the best. It’s certainly the most haunting and the whistled refrain (the inspiration for Gabriel’s ‘Games Without Frontiers’) will echo throughout eternity and stay with the listener long after the song fades into the ether, and that’s the greatest gift music can give. Viva Vivabeat!

• Live In Los Angeles 1980-84 is released via Liberation Hall on 27th March 2026 (available here).
• Official Website | Facebook | YouTube Channel

Track List:

1. Jet Set *
2. On Patrol *
3. Not Dead Anymore *
4. Wild World *
5. I Know Your Room *
6. Pop Girl *
7. I’m Right *
8. Glisse Le Rat **
9. Angry Red Planet **
10. Last White Man **
11. Grey, Grey, Grey **
12. The House Is Burning (But There’s Nobody Home **
13. Shine **
14. Man From China ***

* Live At The Whisky A Go Go, 1979

** Live At FM Station, 1984

*** Live At Lhasa, 1983