Album was my favorite album of 2009. I love it. I still listen to it regularly. Last year they released a little ep called Broken Dreams Club. Having searched the internet far and wide prior to this release, I had already heard Heartbreaker, which I thought the studio version was great. Substance, easily one of their best songs, I had found a live version of and had fallen in love with. The studio version was a lot slower and was kind of ruined. Again that's my fault, not Girls' fault (I still swear it sounds so much better faster.) So that left me with four new Girls songs. I thought it was a decent effort, but I thought it lacked direction. I mean, there was just this new sound they had, even the production was different from that of Album. I was worried that their third album would just be too different, in a bad way. If this all sounds like a bunch of rambling from an asshole or a fairweather fan, you might be half right. I promise, there is a point I'm trying to get to. I have a hard time dealing with change. I don't like it, never have. Now, change is inevitable, like Death (which Girls address.) No matter how hard you hold on to something, eventually you have to let go. It has been my own experience that, for the most part, change has been a good thing, even if I didn't realize it at first. Which brings us to Girls Record 3, I mean check out that cover. That ep was definitely their second album, although it didn't feel like one to me. My first impression? NOT GOOD. What the fuck? Why did they put all their lyrics on the cover? Did you like Vomit the first time you heard it? I didn't. Why are there choir vocals on the track? What the fuck is this?! This is not the Girls I know. Can you decide in your mind that you can not give an album a chance based on one song? Yeah you can, and I've done it (Halocene, by Bon Iver, (sidenote, never cared for them). Really, AOTY?) But we are getting sidetracked. The point of all of this rambling is simply this, I was so completely wrong. I mean, when you listen to Father, Son, Holy Ghost front to back, you realize that you are not listening to 2009 Girls, and this is a very good thing. The sound has matured. The production is different, if not better. Maybe Album was them finding their sound, and THIS is it, I don't know. What I do know is gone are the sun-soaked, jangly pop songs of Album. Gone are the bunch of stand-alone tracks with their own personalities and vibrant life. Girls have, instead, created an ALBUM, one with consistency and purpose. I will tell you this. Vomit, I believe was a hard song to choose as a single. However, in context to the album Father, Son, Holy Ghost, I can finally understand why Chris Owens chose it. It is a turning point: for the songwriter, for the band, for the change in emotion, for the transition of the middle of the album to the end of it, for the listener. And it makes total sense when you hear it in context with the album. Father is the album you didn't know they could make, you didn't think they could make... They have never sounded better; they have successfully made me feel like a dick for doubting them. This is easily one of the best albums of 2011. Repeated listens have only confirmed one thing. You are looking at a Girls fan for life.
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