GIRLS – Father, Son, Holy Ghost (Part 4)

Dave accuses Brandon of being an anti-flautist. An incendiary comment if ever there was one, but one Brandon probably had coming. Dave then goes searching for a place in his rotation for Father, Son, Holy Ghost while wishing the song “Die” would do just that.

Girls – “Laura” from Album

From: David Weintrop
To: Brandon Hall

First things first, on behalf of flautists everywhere – the flute is a proud and noble instrument that doesn’t always suck. In fact, sometimes it even rocks (for proof, check out this video – flute solo starts 2:25 in, but for good measure, it’s best to just watch the whole thing).

I think the big difference between your thoughts on the album and mine come down to expectations. Your coming in with sky-high expectations following their first two albums, a killer single, and a hope they fulfill their ‘quintessential post-modern rock band’ potential. I’m coming in thinking, “Hey, here is a band that makes music, I’ll give them a listen.” As a result, I was left with an album that I thought was good, not great, that will stay on my iPod and probably not get skipped when its tracks come on (except “Die” – blech), where as you come away so angry that you were willing to making outrageous claims about entire instruments (poor flute).

Having gone back through and listened to the rest of the catalog and read up on their history and prior success, I did come away with a different impression of the band and their sound. To me this album seems to fit right in line with the prior two. Album being the inaugural: we are Girls, here is what we do (insert joke about the band being two dudes here); on their follow up, they start to expand their sound introducing a bit more to the mix (notably the horns you mentioned in your first post); and on this third album they continue the trend: “Hey – we should add some ‘Great Gig in the Sky’-esque vocals to a few tracks” and “Have we used any surf guitar yet? No – let’s change that!” “Have we done Elvis Costello – we have? – oh right, what about the righteous brothers?” and maybe most prominently “How many 6+ minute love songs do we have?” Whereas their EP was a small step, with a few new ideas and sounds. This album was a much bigger step, and thus, much more of everything. So what does that leave one with? An album that is somewhere between eclectic and confused, depending on how much you liked it.

I think it is interesting that you loved the first three tracks so much. Throw in “How Can I Say I Love You” and the album opens with four songs and four sounds drawing from four pretty diverse influences. Actually, it would be a fair bit more than 4 influences considering that within some songs the sound and style vary drastically. (see, again: “Die.”) As a music critic who listens very intently to what is happening, I can see how you could really dig this; as a music listener who usually listens to music while doing something else, I get a very different result. I’m trying to think of when I’d reach for this album. If I wanted to hear songs that sound up-tempo and surf rock-y (like “Honey Bunny”), I’d pick an album/band that had that sound. If I wanted to listen to slower, more laid back 6+ minute love songs, I’m sure I wouldn’t put on an album that had a song like “Die” on it that I’d have to prepare for. And as for “Die,” since I’m almost never in the time or place where I want to kick ass for 3 minutes, then get really quiet and reflective for the next 2, I don’t see a place in my rotation for it, and will probably always just skip it when it comes on.

One final thought that I’ve been putting off since the start. “Vomit.” In my last post, I shied away from weighing in on what I thought of it as I knew where you stood but wasn’t ready to take a position, myself. A half-dozen listens later, mixed with a couple listens through their entire catalog and I am ready. And I think you are right. To save me from having to try and top your take on it, I’ll just drop a block quote from your first post:

“Vomit” is a deliriously thrilling six and a half minutes replete with quiet, down tempo fuzz-backed verses, glorious organ and electric guitar choruses, a fucking kick ass guitar solo, and a gospel choir buttressed coda that’s as electrifying as Floyd’s “The Great Gig in the Sky” or Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.” Turn that shit up!

In other words, it kicks ass, Turn that shit up!

Dude, “It’s just a song,”

Dave