I've decided to change the name of this new
category from "Review" to Breakdown
Album [2011]
Growing up in the
Children of God cult, Girls singer Christopher Owens
said he never had anything that could be called a childhood. He hardly knew his father, his
older sister fled the cult never to return and he watched his brother die due to the cult's lack of medical practice or use of technology offered through their atypical lifestyle. "Imagine being raised in the
Taliban," he once said in an interview. Through their debut album, cleverly titled Album, Owens opens up these past wounds
and wrenching memories and spills out those feelings and troubled memories in
song. By this description, one could infer a more melancholic tone throughout the album. But this is
hardly the case. What he sings about and
what it sounds like come as polar opposites. Yes, he offers a slower more melancholic song or two, but this seems to
be standard practice on rock albums these days.
Owens opens up the album on “Lust for Life” with a simple request- longing
for love and continues on asking for
things I never think twice about having like “pizza and a bottle of wine.” Simple joys that most people take for
granted. But Owens is in no position to
do so. As sad and sorry as these words come
through, no such sadness emerges through the sound. Fit with his erratically squeaky voice, “Lust
for Life” is not complete until you add upbeat guitar riffs,
snare taps, and maracas. The culmination
of these sounds work to overpower the seemingly despondent lyrics and creates a
song nothing less than an upbeat, top-tapping delight. The same trick is done on the next song “Laura”
where you will find yourself grooving along with the bendy guitars riffs in
approval as his pleas for love ring out in the background.
The songs on Album largely
contain lyrics of considerable sadness, grief and loss; this comes as no
surprise given Owens tumultuous back-story. But he cleverly disguises them behind the more joyous and upbeat tempo
of Beach Boys-esque guitars and other groovy, eccentric sounds. A
simple formula sure, but no two songs sound the same on Album. You go from scratchy, washed out guitar chords on a two minute song called “Big Bag” right over
to “Hellhole Ratface,” where the surfer-guitar mantra pulls back in favor of
slow acoustic melodies. The maracas are exchanged
for sleigh bells and Owens’s craven voice takes center stage in a more tepid
sounding melody. But halfway into the
seven minute song, Owens brings back the familiar, strengthening the sincere
tone of this song with two more electric guitars, an organ and a choir of hands
clapping the song through its end in a soothing crescendo. Readers can relate to many of the song's lyrics. On "Hellhole Ratface," Owens shows his longing to live life to the fullest as he sings "I don't want to die without shaking up a leg or two..." You may not find yourself dancing to this song, but you won't skip it either.
He does this and then has a song like “God Dammed” which takes a similar
simple approach carrying nothing more than an acoustic, a set of bongos and the
perfect every once-in-a-while tap of a percussion rattle. Almost the same on paper, but it sounds much
different. No two songs really sound the
same at all. Owens commonly likes to
emit his past pains and sadness through the lyrics of Album, but it’s hardly a plea for sympathy as the words tend to be
overpowered by the energetic tones of guitars, and stabilizing precussion
sounds in every which possible way. Even
so, the slower sounding songs end up evoking more appreciation for their sounds
than any sort of sadness or empathy. With such a variance in style, Girls will keep you guessing on every track of Album, ensuring a great listen from start to finish.
