Girls

Gazing back warmly upon the mid-20th-century sounds of doo wop, surf rock and psych, San Francisco indie-pop act Girls formed in 2007 around the core duo of singer/songwriter Christopher Owens and bassist/producer Chet “JR” White. Owens’ upbringing in a fundamentalist cult informed the band’s shaggy outsider vibe, offsetting the bubblegum melodicism of their early songs. Simply titled Album, Girls’ 2009 debut LP showcased daydreaming lyrics about pizza, wine and young romance (“Lust For Life”) alongside bleak depictions of heartache (“Hellhole Ratrace”). The 2011 follow-up Father, Son, Holy Ghost bolstered the band’s sound with fuller arrangements without losing their throwback charms, but only a year later Owens announced Girls’ dissolution to pursue a solo career. His subsequent releases have continued to contrast lyrical alienation with breezy jangle, while White applied his production savvy to records by Cass McCombs and Tobias Jesso Jr. before his death in 2020.