I've thought about GIRLS a lot for the past 2 days because I saw them on Saturday night at Webster Hall. What struck me the most was how awesome it was to see Album (and various other songs like "Substance" and "Oh Boy," etc.) performed live. The band sounded better than the recording, and it was really one of those organically pleasurable live shows where you can actually chill out and listen to the songs being performed FOR you after rocking out to them time after time alone in your bedroom dreaming of this moment. So thank you. Because for a "lapsed" Protestant on Easter-Eve, seeing Girls made me feel the presence of whatever ideas I might have about Christ left in my psyche and made me feel like I celebrated Easter in my own way. Leave it to me to feel spiritual at a rock show, but hey, people, you either feel it or you don't. I personally felt like seeing Christopher Owens sing "Lust for Life" was a true gift and one that I can feel grateful for having seen the rest of my life. So if Jesus had something to do with that... then thank you.
As for Christopher Owens himself... homeboy is totally the opposite of my usual flavor. He's blonde, Cobain-ish, frail, earnest, friendly and smiley, and generally what I would call "Vanilla." I don't mean that in a boring way. I mean that in the as the opposite to the Casablancas"Chocolate" way. Jules is the archetype for my favorite flavor: dark, brooding, perfectionist, mysterious, quiet, and intense. Owens is the anti-Jules. But I guess it's like real life. Yes, today I did buy a 50% off chocolate Coneja because post-Easter candy sales fuel the chocolate lust I hold in my heart, but there are some days when all I want is a vanilla malted shake. Think of Owens as that shake. And that's the metaphor for that.
