Viva Voce

Kevin Robinson handled drums while Anita Robinson covered vocals and guitars when the pair launched Viva Voce in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, during 1998. The Italian phrase pronounced VEE-vah-VOH-chay translates to “by word of mouth,” which the husband-and-wife team adopted as the band name. Their debut full-length, Hooray for Now, surfaced before the close of that same year. Throughout 1999 the duo booked headline club appearances and opened shows for Sunny Day Real Estate. Seeking fresh audiences for their guitar-centered indie pop, the Robinsons relocated from the South to Portland, Oregon, in 2002 and promptly established the Amore!Phonics imprint to reissue earlier recordings. Their second album, Lovers Lead the Way, followed in summer 2003, accompanied by live dates alongside Calexico, Ladybug Transistor, and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. Seattle’s KEXP and Los Angeles’ KCRW both began spinning the group’s inventive sound and continued to champion its evolving atmospheric textures. Minty Fresh issued the band’s next effort, Heat Can Melt Your Brain, in summer 2004, prompting extensive North American and European touring that extended into late 2005. September 2006 brought the fourth album, Get Yr Blood Sucked Out, the first Viva Voce release on Seattle’s Barsuk Records, supported by fall performances with Silversun Pickups. Rose City arrived in 2009 as their second Barsuk title. The sixth studio album, The Future Will Destroy You, marked the group’s Vanguard debut in 2011.