Words by Lee Gallacher
San Francisco lo-fi art rockers Girls recently released the EP Broken Dreams Club, their follow up to 2009’s Album. The band is formed of five touring members but has two key members, Christopher Owens and Chet White, in the writing and recording process. Owens is the group’s singer and is a former member of the Children of God Cult. Girls have been together since 2007, releasing singles that were often recorded in Chet’s parents’ garage, epitomising the lo-fi garage rock scene which has flourished in the outward and artistic culture of the Bay area.
Having previously been subject to sonic comparisons with such musical heroes as Buddy Holly and Elvis Costello, Girls have been receiving scintillating reviews and acclaim from the music industry with their jangle pop. The airy and light guitars recall images of the 1960s, capturing the laidback attitudes and sunsets on a sandy beach with an air of nostalgia created through the textures of the lo-fi recording processes.
Girls toured Europe in 2009 before returning to America for a headlining tour. They started writing and recording for this new EP in March 2010 whilst continuing to tour. The band was known for heavy experimentation with drugs during the recording of Album, but claim that this is now more of an occasional indulgence.
With this latest offering, Girls have obviously moved away from their earlier heavy concentration on songs about girls, instead presenting ideas about being lost and uncomfortable in understanding modern life, aging, escapism and substance abuse. Although they haven’t done anything dramatically different on Broken Dreams Club to change their sound or style from their first release – including the almost identical artwork of the record sleeve – they have nonetheless presented six great tracks which clearly celebrate their abundance of song writing talent.
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