A girl can do funny things to a boy: like make him write a love- wracked space-rock epic called "Vomit" that sounds like My Morning Jacket with a gun in their mouth. This San Francisco band's debut was scuffed-up and Stones-y; its new one adds a keyboardist and stretches out into something bleary and vaguely prog rock, as singer Christopher Owens obsesses for the one who tossed his heart in the trash. The lyrics are self-consciously gloppy, but from the Beach Boys pop of "Honey Bunny" to the textured, churning rocker "Alex" to the soul ballad "Love Like a River," Girls find the right sonic twist to give clichéd romantic self-pity a fresh, forlorn sting.
Listen to Father, Son, Holy Ghost:
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