Christopher Owens weaves a new path through familiar psych-indie-folk territory in this surprisingly consistent album that’s well worth investigating.
Take this San Fran duo’s second album proper at face value and it hardly sounds like a banker.
Pilfering elements of psychedelia, indie-rock, folk, alt-country, gospel, prog and soul, Girls keep the musical elements simple.
Christopher Owens’ voice is an almost androgynous whimper spouting oft-tired imagery, too.
Perhaps it’s his dependence on ‘serious, very heavy opiates’ that helped, but when the ingredients gel - as on Die’s sun-blistered, driving guitar riff that mellows into a heavy-lidded psych sigh - the results stand out.
The album feels like a new take on the familiar, like someone fed your music collection into a valve-amplified blender.
From the gospel-and-Hammond-organ crescendo of Vomit to the West coast harmonies and shoegazing narcissism of Honey Bunny, Girls just win out against the odds.
3 stars
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