Girls - Broken Dreams Club (2010)

WARNING: whereas I gave Album and Father, Son, Holy Ghost a whopping 5 stars (WOW!!!), I've only given Broken Dreams Club four and a half (boooo!) on a site people only use for automated recommendations any way

AND WHY IS THAT?
Because it's not as good as Album or Father, Son, Holy Ghost


It is however a fantastic release and an important one as it shows the transition between the sound of both albums- an alt country aesthetic gels their influences together for the first time and so it's not as schizophrenic as Album. In fact, a few of the songs are better than the ones on Album, certainly more interesting, as the band adds horns and pedal steel and comes out sounding Roy Orbison + x on two tracks, and dreamy/slow-building/guitary on the closer Carolina. The only track I don't really care about is Alright, but a few minutes in the song takes an interesting turn- something they did frequently on Father, Son- turning a nice-ish (but only that) idea into something unexpected and good

It's concise (it's an EP) and works as a great stand-alone record as well as an interesting one. I recommend buying it on vinyl like I did 'cause the cover is cool and you get a little download token which is a nice idea

A

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Girls - Album (2009)

1. Lust for Life 2:25

2. Laura 4:51

3. Ghost Mouth 3:11

4. God Damned 2:17

5. Big Bad Mean Motherfucker 2:16

6. Hellhole Ratrace 6:57

7. Headache 4:00

8. Summertime 5:39

9. Lauren Marie 4:58

10. Morning Light 2:36

11. Curls 2:08

12. Darling 2:59

Mainly to make things on here comprehensive- according to at least two of our posters Girls are the best rock band of recent years and their first Album is their best because it's the most ambitious

Less grandiose, realized, and consistent than their 2011 epic Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Album still stands as one of the best heartbreak albums I've ever come across, certainly the best indie rock one, if only because Girls so successfully piggyback on Elvis Costello (the 'pop encyclopedia') meaning you get a ridiculous amount of styles (again, not as realized as Father, Son, Holy Ghost) to convey all the mood shifts surrounding heartbreak

If it's messy, it's meant to be. If it's big and dumb, it's meant to be. If it's saccharine, it's meant to be. The only real problem is the listener's propensity to play it so frequently that the capo'd chord in Lust for Life and Owens' voice become torture. But it's 2012 now and we've got two other great Girls records to fall back on until Album becomes listenable again! Wooo!

A+

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Girls - 3 (2011)

Sup guys, leaving this hear to replace the 320 rip in circulation with skips in Forgiveness


On Album, Girls displayed a whole lot of great ideas, and arguably too many great ideas, because they sounded like as many bands as there were tracks, but whatever, we all loved that record, and those who didn't should listen to Father, Son, Holy Ghost anyway because it's one of 2011's best albums and one that secures Girls as one of the best rock bands of this era 'cause the music and sentimentality of country music is brought in to gel the ideas together, meaning it's a consistent, epic, and moving record that definitely deserves your time

A+

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