Release Date: September 13th, 2011
As if their debut and subsequent EP weren’t obscure enough, San Francisco indie music dream machine Girls are readying to send off their sophomore full-length, Father, Son, Holy Ghost on Sept. 13. The obscurity in their music comes from a mixed bag of crazy backstories and taboo lyrical delivery. Frontman and guitarist Chris Owens touts being a product of communal living, growing up in the Children of God movement, which started back in the 1960s. Having not been allowed to listen to music outside the commune, the band’s delivery is a product of Owens’ imagination and a release that shows no signs of letting up any time soon.
At first listen, this record comes off as a mere extension of their last two endeavors. But through a multitude of whimsical and sometimes way-out-there style tweaks and musical magic, Owens and crew have done a spectacular job of making this round two better than Album (2009) and just as tasty as their EP, Broken Dreams Club (2010).
Girls have taken their eccentric attitude to new heights with this album. They haven’t completely strayed from their normal formula of lamented lovers laureling or the idea that no one understands a drug addict, and in all honesty, it’s good to have music that their core audience can identify with. What steps this album up a notch is a sound that reaches out and grabs those who normally wouldn’t find themselves at a dive bar on a Tuesday during dollar beer night listening to a long-haired whiner make sweet sex with his microphone.
The beauty of this record comes by way of tracks such as “Die,” which has the makings of a acid-washed hippie psychedelic trip taking court with the fastest that Owens has ever sang in his entire life. The bassline is trippy, and the guitar is a page ripped right out of a stadium-rock anthem. Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl would approve of this song. Of course, the end brings the listener back down to Owens’ way of thinking and the slow-jam stoner session rounds out with a subtle flute in the background.
Another gem of a good tune and the album standout is “Honey Bunny.” This song invokes everything from the West Coast, making it a total dream location, and this song the backdrop for a fun-in-the-sun surf date on a hot, summer Saturday. Owens and his troupe stay true to their roots, though, with the repeating of, “They don’t like my boney body, they don’t like my dirty hair, or the stuff that I say or the stuff that I’m on.” The deep tom drum and surf guitar riff is a rip out of a Gidget love song. It’s fast, catchy and fun from every angle. Even when the song slows at the end, it’s just Girls’ polite way of letting the listener down to the next tune without completely dropping off the face of the Earth.
Throughout the record, Girls tangles with a multitude of attitudes, including a reach in the direction that Elvis Costello goes down, with the track, “Saying I Love You.” There is a handful of their signature sounds throughout with “Forgiveness” and “Vomit,” both of which showcase Owens’ deep and otherwise depressing guitar styling and the range of his supporting cast. Nothing beats these guys live, and with an album of this magnitude, there is nothing stopping them from soaring into rock ‘n’ roll greatness. The talent is there, the sound is there, and the attitude is unmatched.
Sure, Girls may have a touch of influence from other music in their sound and they may be a bit slow when it comes to a majority of their tunes, but the world needs a band like this to help it stop and smell the roses. Or maybe in their case, stop and get messed up in the roses. Either way, when the old crooners such as Elvis Costello are dead and gone, it’ll be Girls who will keep the tradition alive and more likely take it to the next level and make album after album worth listening to no matter the situation, time or place.
Girls Father, Son, Holy Ghost Tracklisting:
- “Honey Bunny”
- “Alex”
- “Die”
- “Saying I Love You”
- “My Ma”
- “Vomit”
- “Just a Song”
- “Magic”
- “Forgiveness”
- “Love Like a River”
- “Jamie Marie”
