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Each year there seems to be one new band that stands out from all the others in the indie world and captures the attention of a wider audience with scant mainstream promotion and hype. Last year it was Bon Iver and in 2009 it is the year of Girls.

As far as debut albums go, theirs is an absolute gem. Timed perfectly for the southern hemisphere summer it captures sun stretched days when time seems slowed, life is good and the vibe is chilled.

Album is essentially a classic pop record. It contains the west coast sound of The Beach Boys, early Elvis Costello and New York stripped down ‘cool’.

The first two tracks are dead-set classics, Lust For Life is candidate for song of the year with Christopher Owens listing some of life’s simple pleasures – a pizza and a bottle of wine, a beach house…  His publicised back story (like Bon Iver’s cabin recordings) of a childhood spent in the Children Of God cult seems to be ground zero for much of the content of his songs. They are all about escape, enjoying life, freedom, lust and love.

The key to the appeal of Girls lies in the simplicity of the songs. The basic template of guitar/bass/drums/vocals is used economically. Lauren Marie is played at a stately pace with added touches of percussion and synths in the distant that give the song a distinctly 80s dream pop vibe similar to Odawas.

Hellhole Ratrace is the centrepoint of the album. 6 minutes long it is a slow burner with Owens sounding like Costello, pining for ‘some love and attention’ before he begins the endlessly circling chorus pleading for everyone ‘to laugh with me’ and ‘to dance with me’. Exquisitely paced, it swells in a grand Spiritualized hymnal fashion that surely makes it a killer song to sing along to at their shows.

It isn’t all drama and slow moving moments on Album. There are some crooning pop moments that could have been sung by Jarvis Cocker, Morrissey or even Roy Orbison, especially on Headache. Contrasting that is a song like Morning Light with its shoegaze strum reminiscent of The Wedding Present or Ride.

Girls have indeed produced one of the albums of 2009. Under the radar and from the heart it is one of those records that people will fall in love with, share with their friends and soundtrack the summer. Get a hold of it now before they tour the world for 2 years, get jaded and cynical and release their dark and troubled second album. For now they have perfectly capture the hazy stoner aesthetic with an irresistible innocence that breathes new life into heartfelt and romantic indie pop.