Guys, I still don't understand why Girls broke up. They had two albums and were both really good. It doesn't make sense. It still doesn't make sense.
Regardless, former Girls frontman Christopher Owens is getting ready to release his first solo album, Lysandre. And today we get our first listen to the album with the decidedly romantic "Here We Go." Flutes included?
Lysandre is set for release January 14 of next year via Fat Possum/Turnstile Records.
A lot of videos made their way around today - too many for separate posts. Check out Girls' new video for "My Ma," Bon Iver's newest version of "Towers," and Summer Camp's lame photo opportunities with "Losing My Mind," all below.
We'll continue today with our top 25 countdown with albums #15 through #11.
#15: Destroyer - Kaputt
Dan Bejar is somewhat off-putting at times. The super-literate and carving intellectual drive of his work with Destroyer and The New Pornographers, mixed with his Gordon Gano-like vocal renditions were a constant confinement to me; respectful of the craft and ethic, but disappointed often in the execution. As it is, Kaputt, Destroyer and Bejar's best output yet, kinda curves the perennial temperament. The free-flowing jazz inspirations aren't terrifically overwhelming (good), and play a common chord in the back on songs like "Suicide Demo for Kara Walker," placated by Bejar's indelible song-writing, that finds its place comfortably. And for all the profoundly intellectual moments that tended to make or brake the Bejar status quo, they stand firmly on Kaputt. Pitchfork found a word for the album, "redeeming," that in a very strong sense, fits well. If anything, after all my biased notions, I'm underrating it.
#14: Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde Dye It Blonde could be effortlessly tagged as a less-egotistical glam rock staple of the early 70s, with all its wistful keyboard back-pulls and single-string guitar riffs, and it'd probably be remembered much more fondly then than it would be now. That isn't to say that Smith Westerns self-titled debut is anything like Dye It Blonde. There's confounding maturity and technical prowess that allows itself to be taken seriously, even if the songs come out like dripping call-outs to love and all its nurtured positives. It's a proud leap from the band's 2009 debut, but still comes out fun.
#13: The Antlers - Burst Apart Two years ago, The Antlers emerged out of the woods with Hospice, a charming, if not too delicate of an album. Lead-singer Pete Silberman's vocal were swept in downplayed and underwhelming pieces, which tends to work fine if there's little directive promise for much else. Burst Apart, however, allows Silberman to show that his high falsetto's can blend and carve a much more grandiose effigy in front of sparkling spirals of slow, decadent outputs. I'm not calling this anything close to stadium-esque profoundness, but the extra effort the Antlers push through is welcomed.
#12: Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo Philadelphia-native Kurt Vile rarely sounds like he's trying, whether he wants to or not. The majority of the tracks on Smoke Ring For My Halo and the rest of the Vile catalog are essentially easy progressions of the prolific singer-songwriter; loneliness, emptiness, feelings of more, etc. It's a deceptive measure of people like him, who aim not to show their tirelessness, even if their reputation says the opposite. Smoke Ring For My Halo is full of tracks that sound carelessly stacked, even behind cleverly displayed layers of musical prowess. And for musicians, maybe that's the correct mindset: work, work, work until getting it right just comes naturally.
#11: Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost How can a band like Girls that in all rights doesn't sound like they're doing anything terribly new, also sound like they're completely in their own world? Father, Son, Holy Ghost are borrowed pieces: surf rock, 60s pop, West coast garage rock, mixed with tempered sides of psychedelia and soul, that can be found anywhere in pop history, but really it's Christopher Owens that makes it stick. His well-documented background as an effeminate singer-songwriter raised in a cult (true) make him endearing as if he were some kind of well-read movie character. Maybe that's why Father, Son, Holy Ghost continues to surprise, replay after replay. You figure at this point you'd know Owens, but he surprises you with catchy, elaborate rock tracks like "Die" and you forget everything you suspect about what's next. Some albums are good because they make sense; their structure, songwriting, and progression. But here, you aren't supposed to suspect much, and it creeps forward even better that way.
Girls released their four-minute instrumental "Lawrence," dedicated to the Felt frontman of the same name. The track had leaked yesterday, but you can now officially grab a copy. Quantities are limited, so pre-order now from True Panther.
Last we heard from Jools Holland it was Girls' frontman Christopher Owens going off about how his band gets frequently denied play opportunity and how Lana Del Rey got a spot for no reason. But, that doesn't matter, Bon Iver's performance of "Towers" does.
At the end of every month forever until I inevitably die - maybe - Bears and Bullets will run an Albums of the Month column. Right now, we'll take it easy early on with three top albums, but hopefully the list will continually expand.
September 2011 marked the release of a handful of anticipated releases, many of which collided on the same day; September 13, including: A.A. Bondy, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Das Racist, Mates of State, Memoryhouse, St. Vincent, and Wild Flag. That being said, the month was marred by disappointing releases as well. So, after all, what were this months standouts?
3. Four Tet - Fabriclive 59
Kieren Hebden, better known under his Four Tet moniker, released Fabriclive not as a studio set, but as part of the Fabric series, that will conclude at the end of this year. It begins as a generally mum post-90s trip-hop push colliding with the soft undertone of crowd noise, which to my knowledge has some sort of purpose. After the easy play-in, it courses through modern-Euro house and then seamlessly through more crowd loops into pure Four Tet-sound. It's that endearing core of the mix that sticks out further than many of September's other notable outputs.
2. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
What are Girls? The super-hyped San Francisco buzzband don't fit into the 2011 mold quite as well as their acclaim would seem. Upon the release of Father, Son, Holy Ghost's first single "Vomit," it would seem that they were wedged into some hybrid Beach Boys that are much more sensible to the Jesus and Mary Chain crowd. Confusing? It should be.
Regardless, there's something incredibly endearing about Father, Son, Holy Ghost that doesn't seem like faux-wave lo-fi that frequents the Pacific coastline. Those surf-sensibilities are there, but aren't juxtaposed as an overwhelming theme - letting Christopher Owens' songwriting take the necessary lead.
1. Mastodon - The Hunter
The metal band I simply hype more so than any other marked the end of September with the release of The Hunter, an album which was received by some to be too far off a departure of the band's hard-nailed previous works. And, well, they aren't wrong. Tracks like "Curl of the Burl" and "The Hunter" are easily the most accessible in the band's catalog. For some, though, that as a detraction is in hindsight. The Hunter jabs through blinding, clenching numbers like "Spectrelight" while allowing itself to web a different pattern. For me, that puts in on top.
On the night of the official release of Father, Son, Holy Ghost, which is receiving enormous critical acclaim, Girls performed "Honey Bunny" and "My Ma" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, in full force - backup singers included. Check out both performances below.
Father, Son, Holy Ghost is out now via True Panther.
The title of the song may be a bit off-putting, but Girls' new six minute-plus single "Vomit," off the group's upcoming album Father, Son, Holy Ghost (out September 13 via True Panther Records) is a lot more endearing than one may guess. You can listen below or grab the download here.
We'll continue our top 25 countdown with songs #15 through #11.
#15: Lust for Life - Girls
"Lust for Life," opened Girls debut Album with a long stretch of wishes and desires, asking for really the most simple things, but end up getting less than nothing. That "brand new start" lead singer Christopher Owens sings about comes at the back end of everything, after he realizes that those wishes, realistic or not, aren't going to happen. Despite the uplifting harmonies, percussion and tambourine, the song splits between sobering and gleeful, knowing that Owens never ends up getting the "boyfriend," "pizza," or "beach house." And yet the hand-clapped led second verse with the rest of the band filling in delightful 60's California harmonies makes you almost forget how much you can screw up before anything goes right.
There's something oddly chilling about Miike Snow's "Animal." The production of each and every beat leading into and ending the four-and-a-half minute song is so precise that the rough idea of human's basic instincts and flaws and they're downfall seems almost counter-intuitive. What is heard, however, is one of the year's more catchy and accessible indie hits.
Miike Snow - Animal
#13: Summertime Clothes - Animal Collective
The first of several Animal Collective songs on this year's list, "Summertime Clothes" is a casually inviting spin into the Baltimore band's engulfing psychedelic pop. The jumpy, blippy, starry summer night single stood in the shadows of "My Girls," during Merriweather Post Pavilion's reign over 2009, but many argue that it surpasses it in excellence. While that may be here or there, "Summertime Clothes" deserves its due recognition.
Animal Collective - Summertime Clothes
#12: Zero - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The charging anthem of It's Blitz!, "Zero" ushers in the Yeah Yeah Yeahs first and best attempt to bring electro-charged pop to the Brooklyn band's garage-driven sound. When Karen O's voice rises with the "climb, climb, climb," guitarist Nick Zinner's pulsating melody enriches, pushes, and explodes, climbing higher and higher until "Zero's" breaking point. And that "Zero," despite being who they are, sound bigger than ever.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero (Live on Letterman)
#11: Swim (To Reach the End) - Surfer Blood
"Swim"'s endless Weezer-esque comparisons are becoming a tad null. Weezer, at their mid-90's peak resembled something close to what Surfer Blood were able to churn out -- the driving hooks, insatiable fuzzy riffs, pounding drums and chanting chorus -- but that 90's band is long gone. "Swim" sounds more complete, refreshing and tauntingly infectious than anything on Raditude, while keeping a keen ear of sincerity in the mix. The song doesn't belong in the 90's, or anywhere else really - it's pop in an endless form, that sounds similar and different after each listen.
, which is receiving enormous critical acclaim, 
