I've decided to change the name of this new category from "Review" to Breakdown
Album [2011]
Father, Son, Holy Ghost [2011]
Which do I prefer?
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.
Lots of what is heard on Father, Son Holy Ghost is reminiscent of Album, whether it’s Owens’s lyrics or
the sounds by instruments. Just like in
their debut, the ability to mix intuitively powerful and catchy guitar riffs with
woebegone lyrics is all here. The album’s
first track “Honey Bunny” does all this in a similar way to the opener on Album (Lust for Life). It’s upbeat and quite groovy through its’60s
surf-pop rock sound. But through two
minutes of reminiscent and comfortable sound, the song immediately drops tempo and
carries on with a more blues inspired sound.
No maracas here, instead they decide to go with the more wistful sound
of a pipe organ to carry the back end of the song.
Father, Son, Holy Ghost comes off as maybe more personal and upfront than its predecessor. When he hides the
woes and love filled overtures behind a mantra of guitars and percussion noise,
you get a really nice, positive and almost feel-good track. But Owens’ lyrical intentions hide much less
on Father, Son, Holy Ghost. He is not
afraid to ditch the well-admired and more appealing peppy groove for a slower
sound that might be less comfortable for its listeners. The album’s single, “Vomit” is a six
minutes. It begins for 90 seconds or so
with just Owens’s singing accompanied by an acoustic guitar- slow, steady and considerably
intimate. There are various points
throughout the song, however, that build up and hit hard, bringing together the
sounds of fuzzy guitars, organ chimes and a smashing suite of snare drums and crash
cymbals. To sit and listen to the six
minute song evolve and digress through its various sounds all the way through
to it’s powerful and culminating finish could be a job for some, and while I do
say it is a peculiar choice for a single, the jumble is neat and no less
extraordinary.
From one inclusive (my personal) perspective, these swift and unforeseen
changes offer refreshing new scenery through every single song. And on the whole, they do not come off as
startling due to the fact that like Album, every song has a unique touch that
sets it far apart from its predecessor.
From the ever glorious ‘60s surf sounds of Jamie Marie to Die, a heavier,
guitar driven track reminiscent of
something by Slayer to the next song called Saying I Love You, Owens manages to
keep everything fresh even if you put the song on repeat- it never seems to
bother me.
Which do I prefer?
No comments:
Post a Comment