Girls Bring Lovers Upbeat Heartache on Valentine's Day

Bao Nguyen

​The boys in Girls have been out on the road, earning their keep and spreading good news of great psych-pop joy. They're arriving back in town just in time to help you and your schmoopy get down on Cupid's special day.

"Our friends are a big part of our world, so it's definitely nice when we get to see them and play for them again," says leader Christopher Owens. "We've essentially had our friends edged out of our lives, aside from a couple weeks out of the year. We can't see them, and that's difficult for someone whose friends are his family."

Girls' debut, Album, made many a year-end best-of list, and the band was easily San Francisco's most celebrated indie-rock export of 2009. (It also received plenty of local love, including here.) This was due in part to the band's exquisite mix of dreamy rock and timeless pop. It certainly didn't hurt that Pitchfork offered near-daily updates on the group, which made pretty easy headlines with tales of excessive drug use, NSFW videos, and Owens' stories of growing up in the Children of God cult.

The group has been concentrating more on playing live than writing new material, so expect a lot of familiar tunes at the sold-out Great American Music Hall show on Sunday, but don't expect to see Owens, JR White, and the rest of the gang around town for long. Girls are headed overseas for a month starting Feb.22, finally making it back to a stateside stage on April 17 at Coachella.