Friday, October 7, 2011

Girls--Father, Son, Holy Ghost

The first time I heard Girls' debut record, Album I was driving, alone, from my gravely ill grandmother's house to the wedding of one of the best friends I've ever had. I was really anxious about going solo to this wedding attended mainly by strangers and a few people I knew well, but who I haven't seen in a really long. Plus, I had to drive back to my grandmother's house after the reception, so I even couldn't drink to take the edge off. I don't often get overwhelmed by both depression and anxiety simultaneously, but between the awkardness of the wedding and the imminent loss of someone I loved very much, I was having a pretty strange night. I happened to put on Album on the ride over to the wedding, because I had just gotten it and I wanted to listen to something I didn't care about or know very well so I could just fade out and get numb on the drive. I didn't want to arrive at this wedding a complete basket-case. From the first note of Album, though, I started to feel a lot better. It was just this cool, laid back, sunny music that moves with the highway underneath you. This was early fall, about the same time of year as it is now, but last year. It was perfect music for the weather. Well, I got to the wedding, and I was a total basket case. But every time things got be too overwhelming I would go back to the car and listen to "Lauren Marie" or "Summertime." So, it's fall again. And I'm a basket case again. And there's a a fairly new Girls record out--Father, Son, Holy Ghost. And it's great. And it totally calms me down. It's so wonderful when a band you like comes out with a new record and it's a hundred times better than their last one. To see that these kids are for real and they are gonna be around for a while to keep making you feel that way they make you feel. This group makes me feel grounded. They're feet on the ground music. They're take a deep breath, the day is finally finished music. This record is perfect for getting on the bus (or, if you're luckier than me, behind the wheel of an automobile), pressing play and decompressing for a while. Its deep, chilled-out, soulful gospel and early rock inspired psych/space rock that gets your breathing back in rhythm. Like just about everything I seem to post here, there's a little Spiritualized in the ancestry of these songs (see "Vomit" and "Forgiveness" especially for examples of this). You may also notice reflections of Jellyfish, Elvis Costello, Deep Purple, Sinead O'Connor, Elliott Smith, and on and on...Other stand out tracks include, "My Ma," "Honey Bunny," "Saying I Love You," "Magic," and "Jamie Marie."

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