Music

Album Review - 'Girls' Soundtrack Volume 2

Young adulthood is a seesaw of contemplation and exhibition. That truth runs rampant over the HBO series "Girls," in which creator Lena Dunham and her band of super savvy yet super self-absorbed pals cavort around New York and skirt responsibility. It's parties and prayers, regret and ribald living. The show's second volume of songs does an ace job at tucking all the angst and spectacle into one pretty package. The bawdiness of Lily Allen's autotuned "L8 CMMR" and Zero Dezire's "It's My Birthday (Remix)" throws caution to the wind. They're the companions to Hannah Horvath's recklessness, and solemn numbers such as Beck's "Blue Moon" serve as the sobering comedown. If one song was to represent "Girls" as a whole, it'd be Jenny Lewis' "Completely Not Me." It speaks to the charade played by Hannah and so many of her cooler-than-thou Brooklynite peers. In Lewis' signature kittenish tone, she laments she was "bit by my hubris" over chamber-pop instrumentation. It's fragility incarnate, with imagery that begs for a pan of Dunham staring out a window propped ajar. Every tune on this soundtrack is painfully relatable, just like "Girls" in general. It's awkward and can even get messy (a live take by underground icon Daniel Johnston is gut-wrenching in its vulnerability). But it's got such a grounded and gorgeous quality to it. You won't be able to stop listening, just as you cannot tear your eyes from each episode. Volume 2 is a worthy accompaniment to a daring TV program.
More from Melissa Bobbitt (See All)
Permalink to
Music
What's We're Digging Now: Audiafauna
  Melissa Bobbitt      0

Can't wait until next Tuesday to pick up the new Fiona Apple record? Santa Cruz's Audiafauna will tide you over. Very much in the willowy, emotionally charged vein of Miss Apple, this woodsy...

Jun 11, 2012

Permalink to
Music
Occur Goes Global - The Music of Jamaica
  Melissa Bobbitt      1

Much love to the irie island that brought us Bob Marley, ska and some of the most hypnotic, relaxing, unifying music in the form of reggae. Jamaica has always been a hotbed of good vibes...

Oct 16, 2017