I Love Girls

Do you remember what its like to fall in love with a band?  I had nearly forgotten. Sure, I have enjoyed a few passionate affairs with individual albums in recent years, and yes, I have mature loving relationships with several favorite groups.  Some musicians, with whom I used to have a thing, I can hardly stand to see them anymore, but I still appreciate those early songs, like a rediscovered love letter in the bottom of a drawer.  But more and more, I just download a song here and there -- purposeless flirting you might call it.  

But the debut album (titled Album) of the San Fran band, Girls, has put butterflies back in my stomach. I'll be honest, it feels a bit like Pavement and 1992 all over again.  Why?  Let me tell you...

Girls have done what might sound impossible -- that is, they have listened to the Velvet Underground's catalog for the zillionth time, put the brilliant elements of each record into a blender, and somehow come up with something new again.  There's the simple pop hooks Lou Reed learned to appreciate as a hack-songwriter at Pickwick.  There's the hushed strung-out balladry of the VU's third record.  And there's the occasional rush of noise that we associate with "Sister Ray."  You can find stately, simple Mo Tucker-style drumming and the primitive energy of Sterling Morrison's rhythm guitar.  And all these well-worn VU parts -- inspiration for countless other indie bands of all stripes -- are pulled together by Girls with sloppy-but-charismatic vocals, and what emerges sounds incredibly fresh and full of attitude. Sometimes pouting, sometimes wired, sometimes wistful and innocent -- it's definitely the feeling of being young and in love. 

Below, I'll embed the video below for "Hellhole Ratrace" (a ballad which might underwhelm on a first listen, but will soon burrow its way into your subconscious) and link you to the super-twee "Lust for Life." But don't stop at these; the album is strong start to finish.  Songs that at first sounded like throwaways have become subjects of my rapt attention in the car.  I almost laughed the first time through "Big Bad Mean M**********r" because it sounded like "Greased Lightening" if Danny Zuko was replaced by Satan himself.  But there's more than a joke here -- if you turn it up loud enough, and listen past the bleeding noise and reckless energy of the singer, you can hear backing vocals that are solemn like a church choir. My point is simply that -- while there is surface appeal to Girls -- unlike so many records, the beauty here is more than skin-deep. 

Comments

[Allison]

FYI - they are coming to the Black Cat in November and tickets are only $12.