Album

I heard about this band on Pitchfork a few weeks ago. The site was heaping buckets of praise on the young band's debut album, (the appropriately and simply titled 'Album'), and, even though I don't usually agree with PF's 'glowing' reviews, they're always worth -at least- checking out. Now, I'll be the first to admit that upon hearing the first 30 seconds or so of 'Lust For Life', I was a tad put-off by singer/songwriter Christopher Owens' nasally delivery, to the point of stopping the song and saying "That's that!" in regards to Girls. It wasn't until a good friend of mine, with an uncanny ear for great music called me last week to ask if i'd heard this band, which he'd been listening too, non-stop for weeks. My friend then preceded to embark on this half hour, suplerfluous-filled rant, which inevitably persuaded me to go back and give Girls another chance. Boy am I glad I did! If I'd just listened to a little more of 'Lust For Life' I would've realized that Owens so-called 'nasally delivery' was the perfect tongue-in-cheek sarcasm needed to give the bittersweet little lament of a track it's "OOMPH!". In fact, it's pretty much this formula for the entire album: take a rather somber subject matter, add an upbeat, indomitable delivery, and you have Girls. That may sound a bit repetetive, but I neglected to mention Owens' gifted vocal range. His voice can inflect hints of Elvis Costello, Morrisey, and even early-Beatles era John Lennon, (just take a gander at the no-fi gem 'God Damned' if you don't believe me). Nor have I mentioned JR White's skills as a producer/arranger. Each song on the album has it's own unique sound, almost as if it were produced by multiple people. It's that combined skill that keeps 'Album' sounding fresh track-after-track. I would usually take time to point out key tracks, but this album is loaded with them. My only qualm is the last song, "Darling". While not a bad song, I kinda expected an album of this magnitude to go out on a stronger note. Though, when almost every song before it an IMMEDIATE CLASSIC, it's hard to hold that against them, right? So, to make a long story short: Girls' "Album" is the BEST ALBUM of 2009. It's an album that you will always come back to. It's an album you can listen to when you're sad or happy; it's an album you can listen to while huddled around a fire with people you love, or driving to work on a rainy Monday morning. It's an album that will love you for who you are. Thanks Girls.

I can't believe there aren't more reviews for this. "Album" is enjoyable from beginning to end and the order of the songs lend themselves to the continuity of the disc. Every person will hear different influences here.. I hear Jesus & Mary Chain, 50's rock n' roll, 60's sunshine pop, 70's mellow rock, shoegaze, and current indie rock. The group never sounds like they are trying to sound a certain way... it just seems to flow naturally. I agree with E. Mcmenamin's review in that this COULD have been the summer album of the year if only it wasn't released in September.

San Francisco debut of gorgeously addictive, sublime relationship angst pop, couched in
stunning summery melodies. Lo-fi, indie psychedelic pop twang with a druggy, ethereal feel that
sucks you in like the good time you just can't turn down. Allusions to Beach Boys, Phil Spector,
Jesus & Mary Chain, Stratford 4, Beaujolais, Spiritualized.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 12 reviews  4.0 out of 5 stars