GIVEN Girls’ frontman Christopher Owens’ upbringing – cults, drugs, parental abandonment and homelessness all feature – this was never going to be an upbeat affair.
His band’s first outing is a bitter, dirt-encrusted take on the Beach Boys, with the slow-burning Summertime and Ghost Mouth drenched in yearning, while Morning Light is two-and-a-half minutes of spaced-out punk racket. So there’s something bubbling under here, but all too often on Album, Girls are gripped by a strangling banality which leaves their songs earthbound.
They have the sense of melody, the anger and, with the turbulence which has surrounded Owens’ life up to now, enough subject matter to keep them going for a while. What they don’t yet have is anywhere near enough focus and deftness of touch.
Still, any band capable of producing a song – Big Bad Mean Mother ****** – which sounds like The Stooges covering Trigger Happy by Weird Al Yankovic has got to be worth a listen.
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