Girls, 'Album'
Cause I don't wanna die. Without shaking up a leg or two
Yeah I wanna do some dancing too
So come on, come on, come on
Come on and dance with me
So I feel strange writing about being so deeply into a band in the process of setting the world on fire, but with these guys (girls) I have to make an exception, for the record has been in constant rotation with me these past weeks. I saw them support Cass Mc Combs last month in LA, - their hooking simplicity and pop draw had some kind of instant effect over me. Their stage presence (Scooby Doo gang meets Nirvana cover band) seemed completely at odds with their tight sound and inclusive anthems. It'd been a long time since I'd been surprised by a band I guess.
Girls is effectively Christopher Owens and Chet White, and Album is their debut recorded by White in their San Francisco studio over many nights on many Drugs. Owens voice is a beautifully effortless thing, a melancholic instrument that pleads, forgives and celebrates life in the wake of heartbreak. Sounding something like Bob Geldof mixed with Elvis Costello, Owens sounds schooled and aware of his pop predecessors and capable of making a contemporary case for the love song, the reacher, the hit. In the past he's played with Matt Fishbeck and Ariel Pink as part of the HOLY SHIT lineup. The Girls project, however, seems freed from the mandatory inconsistencies that potentially dilute the brilliance of both Fishbeck and Pink's recorded archive.
The songs range from super sleepy love songs and Tyranosarus-Rexian jams to Dinosaur Jr-type guitar bellowing scrawls - simple direct and catchy... Catchy like - you want it on in your car everyday, you wonder if your Mom could come round to it, you want to pass it on, blanket the bliss. There's a fun-ness in the sadness here, something post-damage about Girls' lyrics (Owens was raised in the radical confines of the 'Children Of God' cult before escaping as a teenager), that has me nodding on the inside-and wishing there were more material.
Release: Album
To Cure: A broken heart
Keywords: Girls, Inertia Records
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