Album by Girls is not exactly a one-of-a-kind album. Plenty of bands have had the same world-weary attitude, the same skill with harmonies, the same knack for tragic lyricism and the same ability to bring the whole lot together into a world-beating song. Very few, however, existed in the late ‘00s. Girls revived and revamped the classic sixties record, not as teeny-bopping Beatles-wannabes or psych rock rejects, but as lush instrumental pop musicians, much as The Beach Boys were at their creative (rather than commercial) peak. Their main musical powerhouse was their frontman, Christopher Owens, a man with a tragic past involving cults, drugs, family issues, and yet more drugs. Each and every song they produced was fantastic, strung-out, sway-along stuff. It’s a shame they split up in 2012.
However, if you liked Girls, then you’ll love Mac DeMarco! Although Mac DeMarco are far less ostentatious in their orchestration (try saying that after a couple of drinks!), the same spirit lives on in their work. Tales of love, desperation and all sorts of misfits are conveyed in an uplifting and intriguing manner. The minute that you really begin to see the similarity is during “Ode to Viceroy” from 2012’s sophomore effort, 2, as Mac drawls the name of the recipient of the song over lush, expansive guitars. There could not be a more perfect inheritor of the crown of slacker-pop.
Girls may be gone, but Mac lives on!
