Customer Reviews

Father, Son, Holy Ghost

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The name of this San Francisco band pretty much consolidates every traditional pop song down to its root cause.

The band takes pop roots and branches them out, sometimes elevating them to heavy-metal heights and acid-rock lengths, as on the sprawling "Die," which contains the lines, giddily voiced, "None of us is gonna be just fine / No, we're all going straight to hell tonight."

At other times, band mates Christopher Owens and JR White (with three new members added for Girls' second release) settle into hypnotic, lo-fi splendor, as on the sunny, yet shady "Alex," with lead singer Owens mumbling his lines in a drug-addled manner. Or the down-tempo, blues-rocker "How Can I Say I Love You," with its bittersweet message, "How can I say I need you? ... how can I say I want you? ... now that you've said everything I said to you / To somebody new?"

To be sure, "Father, Son, Holy Ghost," so named to illustrate the spiritual kinship Girls feels toward music, employs a variety of moods.

The album kicks off with the psych-surf "Honey Bunny," bouncy and strange like Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd. The roiling, rollicking "Vomit" moves from ominous to dewy-eyed in the space of a few minutes. The bulk of the songs are backed by a three-piece gospel choir, a key ingredient that unifies the frantic mix.

Toward the end is the album's shining highlight, "Forgiveness," a slow-cooker about letting go of deep grudges before they tear you apart, with its woozy keys, crisp acoustic guitar and bellowing bass drum. A bleary Owens croaks, "No one's gonna find any answers / If you're just trying to hide / From the things you know inside / Are the truth," the eight-minute spectacle eventually boiling over into a fury of white-hot licks and percussive thunder.

There is definitely something magic going on here (and not just the track called "Magic"). "Holy Ghost" is an adventure inside a rock 'n' roll Bizarro World. It feels as if this is music that's been put to wax before -- there's that deja-vu tingle -- but the riffs and melodies are slightly off balance, like a chair at the local coffee shop. The tightly wound, gritty, almost claustrophobic sensation that permeates "Holy Ghost" comes from Girls' intentional choice to record it in a small, concrete studio in the heart of the Tenderloin.

That decision in itself may be a bit of nostalgia for Owens, a one-time member of the Children of God (now scarily rebranded as the less conspicuous Family International), who lived on the streets of San Francisco for a time after leaving the religious cult at the age of 16. Owens is graced with an unsuspectingly powerful voice. It creeps along for a while, but by the fourth song, he opens up and takes charge. Owens is particularly affecting on "My Ma," a feverish ode to his lost childhood, and a family with which he now must be completely at odds. His voice cracks with raw emotion as he sings, "Oh God, I'm tired / And my heart is broken / It's so hard to feel so all alone / And so far, so far away from home."

"Holy Ghost" is a weighty, existential affair. As such, it will never translate to the fresh-faced, overly overt, Day-Glo dance floor that is today's pop landscape. But for those who prefer meals, not snacks, "Holy Ghost" is the kind of album that gently gets under your skin and stays there. It's easily one of the most original releases of the year.

The lead review on here sums the album up very well. It's an immaculately produced, diverse collection of songs that show off the songwriting talents of Christopher Owens (apparent on their quality debut, Album) and newfound chops and power as a band. This is one of those albums that is solid all the way through, and many of the songs reveal new highlights with repeated listens. The Floyd-ian "Vomit," "Forgiveness," and "My Ma" are probably the album's highlights, but it also features a handful of great songs on the undercard (the perfect indie rock of "Alex," the crunching guitars on "Die," the jazzy swing of "Love Like a River"). If you like this, check out the band's other releases - Album and Broken Dreams Club are both worthwhile purchases.

This has jumped into the lead of my "album of the year" race after heavy rotation over the past two weeks. I keep going back to it - it's addicting.

I have heard of Girls in the past, but never bothered with a full album before "Father, Son, Holy Ghost". I'm kicking myself now because I can't believe I missed this group on their debut. There is something at once familiar, and yet utterly fresh and infectious about the songs on this record. Musical revisionism is nothing new, but like another recent favourite of mine, Ariel Pink, the band mix enough love and new ideas together with the old to make the whole thing come alive.

The reviews before this one do a much better job of explaining its virtues than I can, but suffice to say this is a must listen album for anyone who considers themself a fan of modern pop/rock.

Girls, a band consisting of just two guys--and no girls--pretty much came out of nowhere with their excellent 2009 debut album, simply called "Album". Even more amazing was the significant splash that album made, well received by the critics and indie-music fans alike. After releasing a stop-gap 6 track EP in late 2010, now finally comes the band's second full-length studio release.

"Father, Son, Holy Ghosts" (11 tracks; 53 min.) starts off with an innocent sounding "Honey Bunny", although it is immediately clear that the production on here is much more polished than the debut album ever was. "Die" provides the first true head-scratcher, it's a classic rock song coming from somewhere around 1976, period. The dreamy ballad "My Ma" continues along that same classic-rock pattern. As does "Vomit"! By the time we get to the 8 min. jam-out that is "Forgiveness", I am quite confused by this all. Is this the same band that brought us "Album"? Not that this music is not good, but this album is a significant departure from the early sound. Seemingly gone is the early eccentricity, and polished power songs are the way to go now.

I've had this album over 2 months, and simply held off reviewing this, as conflicted as I was/am over this album. Again, this is not a bad album per se, but it takes quite a few spins to get comfortable with the idea that this is Girls. Still haven't had a chance to see this band in concert. I can only imagine they'd bring a number of guests with them to play these songs in a live setting. Maybe even a few girls. Meanwhile, if you loved "Album", beware, this album may or may not be your cup of tea.

if you like classic rock and roll music download "My Ma". If you hear all the influences in this song then you sould buy the album. Beatles, Floyd, Dinosaur Jr.? Pavement? I dont' know, its so well done it just sounds "classic" already.

So saw this in the Kindle Fire Music Store for $3.99 and after checking out a few samples, I figured why not?

Man, what a great chance purchase. Love that many songs start out pretty sparse and simple, but then expand into full-blown productions that still kick ass.

Only regret about buying the MP3s is the liner notes. Would love to know who's backing these guys up. Wish Amazon offered "Digital Booklets" for every album. And also that those Digital Booklets were downloadable directly via the Kindle Fire Music Store. It's kind of insane that Fire (and most Android devices) supports PDF files, but the engineers haven't figured out how to deliver the PDF files along with the MP3s. Or heck, let me at least buy the MP3s and figure out how to download the PDF from the Cloud later. Yeesh.

But uh yeah, what was I saying? Oh right, I love this album but if anybody had the liner notes, I'd love a copy. Thanks!

Girls frontman Christopher Owens is a true gem in the indie rock world - not because of his back story in the Children of God, or his drug use, or his personal life, but because he's great at what he does - making songs. Although the songs stand on their own, it's true that knowing details from Owens' life make them more interesting. For instance, he and Chet "JR" White used to play the riff from track 3 ("Die") on opiates over and over again until one of them fell asleep. The track "Vomit" is about an ex-girlfriend and comes from a verse in Proverbs that goes "A fool returns to his folly like a dog to his vomit." "My Ma" is a heartfelt ballad about Owens' complicated relationship with his mother. The closer "Jamie Marie" is a delicate dedication to a girl he left behind in Amarillo, TX when he moved to San Francisco. Owens' honesty in songwriting is both disarming and refreshing in an era of rock that seems so eager to prove it's too cool for you.

The music is also excellent on this album. There are really good guitar solos, well-placed backing vocals, and an affecting song progression that balances serious, lighthearted, humorous, and reverent. The production is excellent and Owens' vocals are surprisingly good. Regardless of how he comes across, Owens is an overachiever, and it shows through on this album. Father, Son, Holy Ghost has a timeless appeal that will endure and may even grow long after most of the other albums of 2011 are forgotten.

2nd album from San Francisco band pulls from the pop roots of 50s/60s rock `n' roll with a

perceptive, appreciative reverence; and molds the influence into something altogether fresh,

exciting, modern and comfortably addictive. Girls have a brilliant sense of how to lay out a

melody so that it calls you in like a long-tressed siren wearing only a glittery electric guitar and a

blissed-out, come-hither rock-stoned smile. Christopher Owens' voice is a subtle, unobtrusive,

perfectly-pitched beacon of accessible emotional angst--delivered with a rock-star professional

sincerity that sends shivers of self-identification dancing up your spine. These are epic,

sweeping, beautiful & compelling rock songs played by a band who are so "in the moment" that

almost every tune feels stronger that the last. Nowhere is there a wasted note or harmony.

Each part slides succinctly and naturally into an impressive, complete moment in time. Recalls

the Beatles, the Goldberg Sisters, the Drums, Dr. Dog, Beach Boys, Surfer Blood, Eno, Phil

Spector, Stratford 4, Jesus & Mary Chain. An absolutely stunning, immediate contender for

album of the year!

I had highly anticipated this release. I loved their first album, and I thought the Broken Dreams Club EP was one of the best records I've heard in a long long time. The EP was brilliant, and I could not imagine what awaited on the upcoming album.

Well, this album is highly disappointing. There's not much to say except that it sounds very nostalgic. Sounds like a cover album. Each song sounds like a cover of any given song from the 60s or early-to-mid 70s -- and not in a good way. They almost literally sound exactly like songs written by popular artists from that era and offer nothing new to the ears.

Because of this 'nostalgic familiarity' of every track, there's a major skip-track factor that I couldn't get away from. I've tried several times to listen to the album the entire way through. But even upon the first listening of a song - I feel like I've heard it before and went on to skip to another track, hoping that finally I'll land on something that's of the brillance of Broken Dreams... skip after skip and in no time I reached the conclusion of the album.. never landing on that hopeful track.

I hope that Girls find their way BACK to their own uniqueness again and don't fade away.

This is a pretty good band, but I quickly get tired of Chris Owens' vocals. While they hit the mark on a couple tunes, there needs to be a bit more urgency and power on some others. Good songs, though.