Girls' 2009 debut "Album" was not a bad start but it was hard to tell the direction for the future. They stuck to a palatable, low-fi, rock sound with a strong throw-back quality to it. But on this album, Girls' ditch the minimalism and continue to go forward without any indie gimmicks or BS.
"Father, Son, Holy Ghost" is jarring at first when compared to its predecessor because it's actually a bit of a concept album as far as a band like Girls is concerned. There are definitely some songs on here that I wouldn't immediately identify with the band if I heard them on a mix-tape. The most puzzling experimental track is, "Die" which is five minutes long and sounds like Queens of Stone Age, Sonic Youth, and Flaming Lips, in that exact order. It's nearly instrumental with the exception of a few vocals in the middle but anyway it's something that sounds so not the indie-rock stereotype. There are solos! Color me surprised.
Another breakout track is "Jamie Marie" that builds on Owens' cool Jonathan-Richman-style quiet song-writing (see "Lauren Marie" off of "Album"). It consists of a quiet first few minutes of just Owens and his guitar and ends with serene Bob Dylan organs. Another 60s style pastiche on the album that succeeds in similar way is "Love Like a River" with its doo-wop guitars and Patsy Cline piano chords. These songs speak to the timeless nature of Girls' music despite the ephemeral label of "indie" they get all too often.
This LP is a damned masterpiece and there's nothing like it right now. It's just too bad we didn't get a taste of this at Summer Fest since Girls ended up pulling out.
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