Photo by Eric Dougherty. More on Flickr
Seeing Magic Kids open for Girls is about the most darling lineup to hit up St. Louis in a while (with the possible exception of GWAR’s annual show at Pop’s…). Their February 2nd show at the Gargoyle happily exceeded expectations, even without considering all the hard knocks that Girls, have been through. You’ve probably heard the story behind the band; the drugs, the homelessness and the millionaire, oh right, and the upbringing in the California offshoot of the Jesus movement – the Children of God Cult. But all that hootenanny aside, Girls has debuted with one of the most critically acclaimed albums of year, the appropriately named Album, which is in short, a brief, surf-rock backed account of SanFran lovin’, of sunny, drug-shiny adventures, and pizza and bonfires and bottles of wine.
Their live performance last week, a concise one-hour set of songs from Album, was an equally endearing glimpse into the sweet life of a carefree California rock band. Lead singer Christopher Owens sang shy and sweetly true (peering out from behind a curtain of dirty blond hair), backed by Girls’ signature jingly guitars, doo-wop back up vocals. Despite the unusual abundance of paralyzed people in the audience, his distinctly pleading voice was enough to make clear what everyone in attendance was thinking - “I wish I had a loving man in my life,” too, Christopher! And despite one or two rhythmic miscalculations, and a few too many benumbed fans in the front row, the Girls’ set can be characterized by overall strong sound and lively energy.
