I’m going to review “Father, Son, Holy Ghost”
at 4:40 in the morning. I am really tired. I am super depressed. I’m largely incoherent. The time is ripe to review Girls’ new album. But first, I need to reboot into linux and see if grub2 was reinstalled correctly.
*beep-boop dee doo bleep*
I am now on my linux install. Cool beans.
Overall impression is that this album is ballersauce. I don’t like it as much as the original, but I’m still going to go through the process of listening to it a billion times (or maybe that’s done already? I must’ve listened to it at least 40 times in the past week). I pretty much disagree with the handful of reviews I’ve read completely, but it’s not like I’ve thought critically about this (not that that’s relevant anyways). I think the pitchfork review was mostly some guy trying to justify his ear’s attraction to the record, but honestly I don’t think I’ve ever read a pitchfork review that felt well thought out. I agree with the all music guy that some of the songs seem more like a demonstration of their progression in arrangements and sound recording than anything, but I think they largely pulled it off.
With that said, I’m largely mixed on a ton of things. First off, Christopher Owens’ voice is really comical at a lot of points (like the verse on “Die”). But I think that he’s pulled off these insane lyrics otherwise. It’s amazing how he can make pathetic and spiritual sound so smooth and non-grating to the ears. It may just be because of how sparse the vocals feel, but I’ll give him credit anyways. The other point of discussion is all of the throwbacks. I’m not an oldies connoisseur. Heck, I’ve listened to less than two new albums in several months so I’m not a connoisseur of any music at all at this point. Regardless, the album sounds like it could’ve been released in the 70s pretty easily. I think the use of gospel singers and organs was a far better throwback than the saxophone that I’ve heard on at least two new pop tracks (Katy Perry and Lady Gaga), though I’m not really sure they’re comparable at all. The guitar solos are both over the top and also awesome. I really enjoy some of them, but I can’t help but feel like a lot of the songs could be shorter… (maybe I’m just not one to appreciate instrumentals. I like singing after all, heh)
On a song-by-song basis the album is also a mixed bag. I think their first single, “Vomit” is pretty dang amazing. Maybe a bit long, but pretty powerful. Or corny. At least that’s what one review thought of it and how every song had the same pacing. I can personally still enjoy it, but who knows, maybe it’ll bother me later on. “Alex” is funny and honest and a bit brutal, but I think the rhythm makes up for it. My favorite song is “Love Like a River”, but it is arguably a throw away track. I always end up picking the corniest and least meaningful song and pick it to be my favorite. But I mean come on, it’s fun as hell to sing and it’s hard to not enjoy the melody and background instrumentals at least a little. The closing track I also like just because I think of it as a sequel to “Lauren Marie” from the original.
On the other hand “Forgiveness” was forgettable to me. The lyrics reminded me of “The Sound and the Fury” to be honest, but the song felt apathetic, I’m not sure why. Speaking of the lyrics, the cover has all of the lyrics on them. I already found one mistake though which I’m not sure what it says about the production. I feel like it’s one of those things that shouldn’t be done wrong, but I’ve never made an album or a cover so… I dunno. I did enjoy the guitar in “Die” and it’s nice to have an upbeat song considering almost all of the songs are depressing. I mean… “Die” Is depressing as hell too, but at least it gets you a bit pumped up for death. For the rest of the songs there are always bits and pieces that I like, but my feelings on them change with each listen. It oscillates between wanting to skip it (and not skipping it) and enjoying the heck out of it. I don’t know what the fuck that chord progression is in “Saying I love you”, but I fucking hate it (and how ubiquitous it is). On the other hand, I like the how Owens’ voice makes absolutely no sense in this song. If it was something a bit cleaner and clearer and brighter it would sound… normal. Instead we have this strained and breathy voice. I dunno, I guess I like that part. But then again, I think the Chinese sounding crap at the end is sort of meh. I think I should really know what instrument it is, but I don’t know. Okay, I just looked it up and the instrument I was thinking of was a “yangqin” I guess? It doesn’t really sound anything like that. Haha. ”Just a Song” has a really catchy chorus I think, but that’s all I remember about it. I guess I would say I oscillate less on it and mostly enjoy it. “My ma” is painfully slow and you sort of want the guitars to move it and for the chorus to shut the fuck up. But if you are in that painfully slow mood then it hits a spot… especially the droning in the background. OH GOD I’M SO LOST // I’M OUT HERE IN DARKNESS. It’s not that bad though… somehow. Finally, “Magic” is actually upbeat and an earworm. But, it’s sort of boring at the same time and you get sick of the sound by the end of the song. It may be the only song that doesn’t have lyrics that sound completely over the top though and it gets praise for that.
This is also sort of random, but I was 99% sure Christopher Owens was gay. I thought I read it on the wiki page when I listened to the first album so when I heard him sing about girls the entire album I got really confused. I thought maybe it was part of the character of the album. I hypothesized that maybe the entire thing is just a farce. It’s not from the point of view of a lover, but of someone extremely pathetic. I wanted it to be that so I can relate to it, but alas… I mean, if he was gay it’d probably because he wouldn’t want to ruin the integrity of the music by making the sexuality of the singer the focal point of every song, but you know, mind runs wild and shit.
I feel like I had a lot of negative things to say about this album, but that’s because I don’t think it lends itself to being enjoyable. I honestly think most people will be turned off pretty instantly to this cut, and that’s too bad because it’s worth at least a few listens.
Big thanks for the Girls for giving me something to enjoy for at least another week.
