Welcome to the segment where I give my opinion on a new band currently ruling the indie-music blogosphere. Is it ridiculous hype or the real thing? Bands like The Strokes, Tapes 'n Tapes, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Vampire Weekend and Passion Pit would all have made excellent Flavor of the Month fodder when they first hit the scene. High marks from Pitchfork plus endless raves from folks like me equals Flavor of the Month. I won't go into the backstory of frontman Christopher Owens, half of the duo Girls, but look into his early years when you get a chance. Fascinating. Let's focus on 'Album', the debut LP from these San Franciscans. Stylistically, Girls are all over the place. Power pop, shoegaze and old-timey surf only scratches the surface. Normally, this kind of jumping around might be distracting, but what if, like me, you are a huge fan of all these genres? A few names that have bandied about when describing Girls include Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney, Wreckless Eric, early Beach Boys and Morrissey. Wow, are you kidding me? I love them all. When I first started reading about them, before a first listen, it was those specific names that made me finally put me guard down and park my skepticism long enough to give them a try. I'm sure glad I did. Songs of lost love never gave me such a lift. I recommend you give these guys a listen. Girls deserve the hype.
Girls - Lust for Life (mp3)
Girls - Hellhole Ratrace (mp3)
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