The underground indie scene, which has witnessed an extraordinary popularity boost within the past five years, produces yet another intriguing record with the release of Album by the San Francisco based, Girls. Despite forming in 2006, Album is only the first Girls installment, and packs quite the initial-album punch. The record puts listeners at ease with peachy chord progressions and meaningful lyrics that tell stories of hardship and romance. Album’s first track, “Lust for Love,” starts with distortion-less, melodic guitar and simple percussion that backs a story of a man and his less-than-stellar life. Standards such as “G** Damned” and “Hellhole Ratrace” also provide a slightly edgier approach, which contrasts the slower tunes nicely. “Morning Light” is an interesting song. The volume of the guitar overpowers the vocals, which makes for an attention-grabbing sound that is nothing like anything else bands have experimented with. Album is indie creativity at its finest. To listeners, the repetition of sounds and themes throughout the album could be a turn-off, but the instrumentation is a quality asset of the record that makes Album worth the purchase. Its captivating simplicity along with its organic west coast style makes it one of the better indie releases of 2009, and a great premier record for Girls.  

Edsman Rating: 8/10