This is the newest release from Girls since their 2009 album debut Album. If you ask me (and just by virtue of reading this, you kind of are), I think it's the perfect follow-up. I suppose now is as good a time as any to let you know that I'm kind of biased... I mean, I love this band but even so, I don't necessarily think that my review is through rose-tinted glasses-- this EP is straight quality. The only problem, as far as I'm concerned, is that it's just an EP and not a complete album. Oh, well... beggars can't be choosers; I'll take what I can get.
Throughout the EP, Broken Dreams Club, the lyrics swing from introverted to global, from questioning yourself to questioning the world. Nowhere is this more evident than the title track. Christopher Owens opens by acknowledging "It's hard enough to be alone. It's harder still to spend so long looking for happiness and feelin' so restless" and progresses to the last line of the chorus and beginning of the second verse, with the admission that he "still don't understand how the world keeps goin' nowhere. There're still so many people poor. Can't get my head around these wars, all of this senselessness. I'm feelin' so helpless." The bridge of "Broken Dreams Club" features a sorrowful trumpet solo that's totally striking.
The first track, "Thee Oh So Protective One," starts us off with a bang--with an exuberant jangle-pop tune under lyrics filled with loneliness and angst (in a good great way). Over bright trumpets, Christopher Owens croons, "Oh little girl, they just don't know about the weight you carry in your soul... He'll never know about the times that you cried in the movies, about the times you cried to the music, about your mother, or your father, or the way you got your broken heart." This is the type of song that could bring you to tears if you listen to it at just the right moment. It primes us for the rest of the EP, throughout which Girls addresses drug use, broken hearts, and feeling alone and lost in a tumultuous world.
While all of this may seem a little heavy, "Broken Dreams Club" has that light, beachy feel that Girls basically owns in today's music scene. However, while staying true to their sound, they've clearly grown as a band and it's really all coming together for them. Although I initially would've thought it impossible, they've improved upon "Album," working out many of the kinks critics acknowledged (critics with whom I disagreed... haha obviii). And they don't take themselves too seriously... During the song "Substance" (which is about exactly what you're thinking), Owens introduces a guitar solo, nonchalantly saying "Guitar solo, c'mon."
I suppose I can't speak for everyone, but this EP really strikes a chord with me. There's so much to worry about in this world and at times I can hardly keep my own mind in order, let alone imagine a solution to any global problems. It's a burden I've been feeling more and more as I've grown older and it shakes my confidence daily. Love is so elusive (on a personal level) and it seems like there's a startling lack of it out there in the "real" world as well. So I guess what I'm trying to say is... You should get this EP, ASAP... and Christopher Owens, I feel ya. I will definitely be picking up a copy of this on vinyl as soon as I can.
Give it a listen below.
Girls - Broken Dreams Club by indieistanbul
