In 2004 the album Anfänger placed Virginia Jetzt! among the leading voices of Germany’s fresh wave of indie pop. The quartet formed in Brandenburg during spring 1999, uniting vocalist Nino Skrotzki with guitarist Thomas Dörschel, bassist Mathias Hielscher and drummer Angelo Gräbs. Although their bright, high-energy pop drew openly from American and British models, Virginia Jetzt! chose to sing in German, foreshadowing the linguistic shift that would reshape domestic pop over the next ten years. Their untitled debut EP reached shops in 2000, and Pophymnen followed twelve months later. Constant road work had already built a loyal audience by the time the full-length Wer Hat Angst vor Virginia Jetzt? appeared in 2003. Anfänger yielded the band’s initial Top 40 entry, “Ein Ganzer Sommer,” together with the smaller successes “Das Ganz Normale Leben” and “Wahre Liebe.” Land Unter, issued in 2007, proved equally popular and spawned the singles “Bitte Bleib Nicht, Wenn Du Gehst” and “Mehr als Das.”
