Primer: Girls-- Local Cut

Primer: Girls

November 18th, 2009 [6:07AM] Posted by: Michael Mannheimer | 0 COMMENTS

Formed: 2007 in San Francisco

Members: Christopher Owens and Chet “JR” White.

Latest release: Girls’ debut, Album, came out this fall on True Panther records.

Why you care: Girls’ back story is almost too good to be true: Frontman and songwriter Christopher Owens grew up as a member of the Children of God cult in Florida (no, really) and spent much of his childhood as a vagabond, living for stints in Europe and Puerto Rico. It’s rumored his mother was among women followers used by the Children of God to bait potential converts with sex, a method of evangelism called “flirty fishing.” Around the age of 16, he escaped to the states and eventually settled in San Francisco, first joining the band Holy Shit with Ariel Pink and Matt Fishbeck before forming Girls. On Album, Owens spins heartbreaking tales of drugs, girls, and on the incredibly catchy breakthrough “Lust for Life,” a wish list of life’s simple pleasures: “I wish I had a suntan/ I wish I had a pizza and a bottle of wine.” Album is also just a pure joy to listen to, 12 songs of buoyant pop filtered through a hazy lens of old 45s and hungover afternoons.

Sounds like: Brian Wilson and Roy Orbison going on a crazy weekend bender—popping pills, writing love songs, and jamming with Big Star.

For fans of: Jonathan Richman; California pop; anyone who just wants to shake a leg or two.

SEE IT: Girls play Wednesday, Nov. 18, at Doug Fir, with Dominant Legs. 9 pm. $10. 21+.

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