Album: Album
Year: 2009
Christopher Owens only made two albums and an EP with Girls, but at the time, he felt like a major new voice.
On the debut album, Album, as well as the follow-ups Broken Dreams Club and Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Girls were able to make rock and roll that had wore both its influences and its heart right out on Owens sleeves, and yet feel fresh and new.
And it jumps right out at you with the opening track, “Lust for Life” which betrays absolutely no Iggy Pop influence, as over a shimmering guitar, Owens sings:
And now I’m just crazy, I’m totally mad
Yeah, I’m just crazy, and fucked in the head
And maybe if I really try with all of my heart
Then I could make a brand new start in love with you
And then they pile on the retro: bass-heavy, backing vocals, harmonicas (or maybe a melodica), and of course, win me over forever by invoking the Handclap Rule.
It’s all very 1990s as filtered through the 1960s. Unless its very 1960s multiplied by the 1990s. Either way, the math somehow adds up to something that probably shouldn’t have worked in 2009, but the fun and enthusiasm of the music was how he could get away with calling a song “Lust For Life”
Official Video for “Lust For Life”
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