Girls - Album

Girls – Album
True Panther Sounds, 2009
Acquired: Love Garden, New, 2009
Price: $15

After one listen to this the day it leaked, I immediately called Jon because I knew he was the only person who could comprehend what I was feeling and I knew for certain he had got the leak as well. He was three songs in, and we discussed what it means to make a fucking great record in 2009. Jon is pretty much the only person I can talk about music with. The only person I know that experiences the same kind of joy and enthusiasm upon hearing something insane. Something so jawdroppingly good it defies description or explanation. Who would have thought that one of, if not the, absolute best albums of 2009 would sound like it was made 30 years ago. Yet there's really no nostalgia, it sounds completely modern despite not pulling any modernist punches. The songs are simple, but it's the construction, the singing, the production, and the beating heart behind it conveyed through Christopher Owens' pleading voice. This is a perfect record. Absolutely flawless, and it's almost hard to say that because I'm sure if I looked hard enough I could find something wrong with it but I can't. I enjoy it too much. “Lust for Life” is one of the best songs I have ever heard in my life, you know? How can I dispute a record that has at least five more songs that are almost that caliber? The most important thing is the feeling, the way my heart starts racing during that descending melody (for lack of a proper term) on “Lauren Marie.” The goofy joy I get from the motorcycle pop of “Big Bad Mean Motherfucker.” The way I can use “Hellhole Ratrace” to sum up exactly how I feel living in Lawrence and how that song is designed to create a unique experience for everyone. Everyone can identify with that song. Every guy has a “Laura” in his life. Jon and I just talked about this last night, actually. I told him I was writing this thing and we talked about our Laura's and how we feel like assholes and long to rekindle friendship with these people, let bygones be bygones, etc. The song makes us want to do that. There's a variety here, and though it's common knowledge that everyone wants and needs a little bit of variety, it's handled lovingly. There's not pretense to it, and it sounds like a bit of fun. The liner notes read that the record was NOT recorded in a studio, and I'm kind of amazed given how fucking good it sounds. But maybe that's why it sounds so fucking good. So good that I can overlook the fact that “Ghost Mouth” and “Hellhole Ratrace” share the same melody, both songs are excellent. Anyway, this is pretty much perfect.