Girls

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  • 2007
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About Girls

Girls was an American indie rock band that formed in San Francisco, California in 2007. The band comprised two key members: Christopher Owens, songwriter and lead singer, and Chet "JR" White, who played bass and produced. The band's sound was heavily inspired by the music of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, with their sound being described as lo-fi, surf rock, rock and roll, psychedelic rock, pop rock, country rock and garage rock. Girl's debut album, Album, was released in 2009 to critical acclaim. Their second studio album, 2011's Father, Son, Holy Ghost, was also released to critical acclaim. In July 2012, Owens announced that he was leaving the band and would continue to record as a solo artist. History edit: Formation and Album (2007-09) edit: Owens was born into the fundamentalist cult Children of God, but absconded at 16 from their community in Slovenia to Amarillo, Texas. It took him years of exploring common technology, hardcore punk and nihilism, among other things, to cope in mainstream society. In an interview with Exclaim! magazine, Owens related much of how being part of the Children of God cult informed his childhood and his music. While there, he was not allowed to listen to music from outside the group, but was allowed to watch movies from which he absorbed music like Queen and Guns N' Roses. In Amarillo, Owens was taken in by Stanley Marsh 3, where he was able to foster his creativity. When Owens turned 25, he moved to California. While in California, Owens became a member of Holy Shit with Ariel Pink and Matt Fishbeck. Owens then met Chet "JR" White, a Bay Area native who was raised in Santa Cruz, California. White began recording bands in his parents' garage. Upon meeting, the two developed a strong bond and interest in similar music, as well as a shared background in punk/hardcore music. Shortly thereafter Owens and White started recording what was to later be their debut album, titled Album. Album received much acclaim when it was released. Pitchfork Media rated the single "Hellhole Ratrace" at 383 of the top 500 songs of the 2000s. The same website gave the album a grade of 9.1/10 and was rated the 10th best album of 2009. Father, Son, Holy Ghost (2010-2011) edit: In 2010, Girls released the EP Broken Dreams Club, an EP Owens described as "a taste of things to come." On July 20, 2011, they released "Vomit" from their upcoming album as a free download. This was followed by a video of the same song in August. "Honey Bunny" was the second cut off the record. The band released their second full length album Father, Son, Holy Ghost on September 9, 2011 in UK/Europe and on September 13 in the USA. On November 7, 2011, Girls announced a standalone single, "Lawrence," released on a heart-shaped vinyl on November 28, 2011. The song was written as a gift to Felt lead singer Lawrence Hayward. Like with Album, Father, Son, Holy Ghost received much acclaim. "Vomit" and "Honey Bunny", the first and second single from the album, received "Best New Music" designations from Pitchfork. The same website gave the album a grade of 9.3 and was ranked number five on their Top 50 Albums of 2011 list.Billboard Magazine said "with "Father, Son, Holy Ghost," the band has vaulted the equivalent of three albums ahead, taking the conciseness of the EP and confounding expectations." Spin Magazine gave the album a 9/10 rating, saying "with Father, Son, Holy Ghost's exquisite, beyond-indie melodies, arrangements, and musicianship (the playful "Magic," the elegant "Just a Song," the fiery "Die"), (Christopher Owens) and bassist-producer JR White flirt with perfection." Father, Son, Holy Ghost brought even more exposure to the band. The album peaked at #37 on the Billboard 200. On the tour in support of the album, the band performed at the St Jerome's Laneway Festival and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. In addition, the band performed songs from the album on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and Conan. Breakup (2012) edit: On July 1, 2012, Christopher Owens announced via his Twitter feed that he was leaving the band though he will continue to record music on his own. Owens cited the band's constantly shifting lineup as the reason for his departure, saying in an interview with Pitchfork Media: "We were replacing members for every other tour; I didn't feel like I had other people who were maturing along side me. I counted out the amount of people that were in the band over the years. It was 21-- a giant amount of people. That's feeling disappointed 21 times over." The breaking point for Owens came when guitarist John Anderson, one of Owens' closest friends, left the band. Owens released his debut solo album Lysandre on January 15, 2013. Musical style edit: Girls was heavily influenced by the music of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, with their sound being described as lo-fi, surf rock, rock and roll, psychedelic rock, pop rock, country rock and garage rock. For the band's first album Album, critics cited The Beach Boys, Elvis Costello, Buddy Holly, Spiritualized, Felt and Ariel Pink as influences. Owens' vocal style has also been compared to that of Brett Anderson, lead singer with English Britpop band Suede. The band's second album, Father, Son, Holy Ghost, kept most of the surf rock sound of the first album, but also saw their sound expand into metal and gospel music.

Source: Wikipedia

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Music

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  • Honey Bunny
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    Honey Bunny
  • Morning Light
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    Morning Light
  • Lust For Life
    girls-3
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    Lust For Life
  • 28601618
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    • Hellhole Ratrace
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/6/3/4/6/5/235556436.mp3
    • Laura
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/7/8/5/6/5/235556587.mp3
    • Lust For Life
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/5/2/2/6/5/235556225.mp3
    • Summertime
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/6/9/5/6/5/235556596.mp3
    • Love Like A River
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/4/7/1/1/7/843471174.mp3
    • Alex
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/5/7/1/1/7/843471175.mp3

Interviews & Exclusives

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  • Feels Dangerous!
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    Feels Dangerous!
  • Soul Meets Soul
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    Soul Meets Soul
  • "Bad Kids"
    girls-3
    video
    "Bad Kids"
  • WEIRD VIBES Episode 3: Fathers, Sons & Holy Ghost! (2011)
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    video
    WEIRD VIBES Episode 3: Fathers, Sons & Holy Ghost! (2011)

Photos

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News

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  • Girls
    Hit The Floor GIFs: Too Hot For Tumblr Feeds
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    Monday's episode of Hit The Floor was hot, hot, hot . But you know what's hotter? VH1's custom-made GIFs of the Devil Girls performing in a po...
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    clutch.mtv.com
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    Hollywood Crush
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    clutch.mtv.com
    June 19, 2013
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    MTV Geek
    June 19, 2013
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    MTV Hive
    June 19, 2013
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    VH1 Blog
    June 19, 2013
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    MTV Style
    June 19, 2013
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    Hunter Hayes Toasts Encore With 'Crazy' New York Show
    MTV News
    June 19, 2013
    'Wanted' Singer Rocked Out With Hayniacs for MTV's Artist to Watch LIVE the Same Day as His Album was Released
    Read More
  • Girls
    Listen: Girls - 'Carolina'
    www.drownedinsound.com
    Next Monday Girls return with a new EP, their first proper release since last year's excellent but stupidly titled Album. The EP is called Broken Drea...
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  • Girls
    Listen: Download new Girls track - 'Heartbreaker'
    www.drownedinsound.com
    with open arms by so many of you over the last year or so that in turn we've spent all our time fulfilling invitations to play live everywhere around ...
    Read More
  • Girls
    Listen: Stream new Girls track 'Lawrence'
    drownedinsound.com
    Girls are a band who aren't unfamiliar with having names of their songs as names of people, specific or otherwise. We've had 'Carolina', 'Alex', 'Laur...
    Read More
  • Girls
    Watch Girls' Video for "My Ma"
    Paste
    Girls today released a new video for the song "My Ma," which appears on last year's Father, Son, Holy Ghost. The clip was directed by Aaron Brown and ...
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  • Girls
    Watch Girls Play "Love Like a River" Conan
    Paste
    Following last weekend's Coachella performance, Girls frontman Christopher Owens lent his voice and thick sonic arrangements on Conan last night with ...
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  • Girls
    Christopher Owens Leaves Girls | Prefix
    www.prefixmag.com
    Tweet Christopher Owens, best known and frontman and primary songwriter for the band Girls, has announced he is leaving the band. In a series of tweet...
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  • Girls
    Christopher Owens Leaves Girls
    Paste
    Chris Owens, the lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco band Girls, recently announced on his Twitter feed that he will be leaving the band....
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  • Girls
    Former Girls Frontman Christopher Owens Announces Solo Debut
    Paste
    This summer, Christopher Owens made a surprising announcement that he was leaving Girls, the San Francisco duo he fronted. His departure came not even...
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  • Girls
    Girls' Christopher Owens Announces Solo Tour
    Paste
    Less than a week after the news of the release of his new solo album Lysandre, former Girls' lead singer Christopher Owens announced a solo tour in su...
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    Listen: Christopher Owens, Formerly of Girls, Performs New Tracks on BBC
    pitchfork.com
    Photo by Misha Vladimirskiy Christopher Owens' first post-Girls solo record, Lysandre, will be out January 15 in the U.S. and January 14 in the UK via...
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