Girls
Broken Dreams Club
True Panther Sounds
November 22

By Matt Kiernan

Having spent the last year garnering the praise of critics and fans alike through their first album, the San Francisco band Girls took a long enough break to record some new material titled, Broken Dreams Club. The title summarizes the EP well enough in that its six tracks continue the string of dreamy pop songs that were found on their first release.

I was surprised when I clicked on the first track and immediately noticed the chord progression in the song “Oh So Protective One” sounded oddly similar to the garage rock band Harlem’s “Three Legged Dog.” Looking past the similarities though, “Oh So Protective One” wonderfully captures the feeling of dancing with a date at a 1960s high school prom.

Girls turn up the sentimentality knob on the second track “Heartbreaker,” with the lead singer reflecting on growing older while to him the one he loves will always remain the same age. Pessimism is layered over these reflections in the chorus where the lyrics “And when I said that I loved you honey/I knew that you would break my heart” are sung.

The final and longest track on the EP, “Carolina,” is also the least pop-friendly track due to its lengthy lead-ups to verses and choruses, but that doesn’t mean it’s not as equally captivating. After the noisy reverberated electric guitars and synths make their way up to the chorus, the lyrics “To Carolina/To Carolina/Where ya servin’ Carolina/And then I’ll never let you go,” make the wait well worth it.

Of all the bands that have focused on creating hazy, nostalgic, dreamy pop songs over the last couple years, Girls has been and still remains one of the most accessible duos of said category to release music, and from hearing their latest output, don’t seem to be in any hurry to stray away from their sound.