Father, Son, Holy Ghost

Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Critic Score
Based on 31 reviews
2011 Ratings: #80 / 1031
Year End Rank: #11
User Score
Based on 367 ratings
2011 Rank: #48
Liked by 26 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

93
Pitchfork

Their music pilfers from the past without shame but also manages to sound like no one else.

91
A.V. Club

In another band’s hands, all this stretching would seem sophomoric, but Girls have always been great at grasping.

90
PopMatters

Father, Son, Holy Ghost is bracingly immediate, a collection of songs that don’t have to grow on you—songs that are fully realized and lovable at first blush.

90
SPIN
The magic of Girls’ songs is how they distill youthful romance’s fatalistic fucked-upness to a sublime heart-to-heart using open-source couplets, riffs, choruses, etc.
90
Paste
This album not only surpasses its predecessor but raises the bar for any band, indie or otherwise, mining the past for inspiration.
90
No Ripcord
A record that is both this good and a display of a band with so much more to show us does not come along often.
90
Billboard

With “Father, Son, Holy Ghost,” the band has vaulted the equivalent of three albums ahead, taking the conciseness of the EP and confounding expectations.

90
Sputnikmusic

One of the best thing about following music is being proven wrong, so I'm happy to say that Father, Son, Holy Ghost makes me look foolish - despite liking Album, I never, ever imagined Girls would be anywhere near this good.

90
musicOMH
The simple truth is, you won't find a sadder yet more uplifting album all year.
86
Spectrum Culture

On Father, Son, Holy Ghost, the band prove themselves able to beautifully capture the fucked-up and fatalistic feelings of young love, no matter the thrust of the music.

82
Coke Machine Glow

Honest, occasionally crushing, often stunning, and all the better for the fact that Owens seems to be incapable of being anyone but himself.

80
NOW Magazine
Girls' have traded their early work's immediacy for something that requires more patience but goes much deeper if you've got the time.
80
The Irish Times
Despite its overly stretched running time, this is an album with countless depths to plumb and myriad layers to unravel.
80
Mojo
The deadbeat look befits an album that travels from slacker pop to a kind of desolate, beautiful blues in a series of quite astonishing songs.
80
Consequence of Sound

Father, Son, Holy Ghost succeeds thoroughly at nearly everything it does.

80
NME

Because there’s an awkward squirm at Girls’ core, a deviant devolution of classic mores, and that makes ‘…Holy Ghost’ something of a maladroit masterpiece.

75
Entertainment Weekly

Nothing sticks like the Dark Side of the Moon-tinged first single ”Vomit,” but it’s a quietly compelling follow-up to their more adventurous (and much-acclaimed) 2009 debut.

70
Rolling Stone
The lyrics are self-consciously ­gloppy, but from the Beach Boys pop of "Honey Bunny" to the textured, churning rocker "Alex" to the soul ballad "Love Like a River," Girls find the right sonic twist to give clichéd romantic self-pity a fresh, forlorn sting.
70
Beats Per Minute

Father, Son, Holy Ghost seems like a step backward from their previous work.

70
AllMusic
As a duo, Girls felt comfortable like an old, weathered T-shirt, and now they feel like a well-pressed dress shirt with extra starch. The good news is that this album proves they are top-level purveyors of pop. The bad is that the eccentricity that once flowed freely feels forced.
70
Drowned in Sound

Father, Son, Holy Ghost is a complex record, one that doesn't quite fully realising Girls potential as great recording artists.

60
The Guardian

On first listen, you'll think someone should have spent a couple of hours with them in the editing studio. A few plays down the line, you'll realise that really would be missing the point.

60
Uncut
"Die" is generic glam riffage, and "Magic" is a tedious Britpop stomp, but there are many successes.
60
Q Magazine
In the end, the try-everything approach works out: if only because Girls' scatterbrained classic rock patchwork is so idiosyncratically odd.
55
Prefix
The album is nothing like a career-killer, but it is a career-worrier.
30
Under the Radar
On the whole, the album feels like a parody of music's tropes, limping along with no real soul.
JohnLouisHoward
96

just as beautiful and hard-hitting as its debut companion.

kaiofelipe
89

One of the most cathartic rock albums of the decade, composed by an artist (Christopher Owens) who had tragic childhood and adolescence (he was raised in a cult, his father abandoned him, his mother had to prostitute herself for the cult leader, his brother died early, etc.) and an apparently turbulent love life (as the disillusioned "Alex" indicates).
Girls would breakup only a year later, but the farewell could not have been more powerful: there are songs that refer to Beach Boys ... read more

DrGonzo86
85

This album oozes soul and feelings, until you're covered in a hot, sticky mess of emotion.

Nukeproofbear
81

Honey bunny is so fucking cute.

JohnLouisHoward
96

just as beautiful and hard-hitting as its debut companion.

jackkd8
78

Some nice soothing, retro instrumentation makes for some rather lavish sounding songs — just seems to be a bit lacking in originality for me.

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Track List

1Honey Bunny
2:33
83
2Alex
4:50
79
3Die
4:50
79
4Saying I Love You
3:58
64
5My Ma
3:57
74
6Vomit
6:23
88
7Just a Song
6:39
77
8Magic
3:27
78
9Forgiveness
7:49
75
10Love Like a River
3:41
75
11Jamie Marie
4:28
72
Total Length: 52 minutes
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Added on: July 7, 2011