Girls in Trouble's Debut Album Out Now!

While going through the Book of Maccabees, have you ever come across the struggle between Judith and Holofernes, read about how the latter was sent (by Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar) to get vengeance against nations that hadn't assisted the king, threw up your devil horns when decapitation ensued, and thought, "This needs to be an indie/folk song!"? If the answer is yes, I have an album recommendation for you!

Even if you've never experienced that kind of thought process, Girls in Trouble's eponymous debut—out today on JDub Records—is worth a listen. Singer-fiddler-guitarist Alicia Jo Rabins—better known as the fiddle player from Golem—wrote the songs in tribute to female characters in the Bible, who are often obscure and sometimes even anonymous. That motif is underlying and shouldn't alienate listeners who don't typically rush to Biblical music, as themes like seduction, adultery, and violence are most noticeable in the lyrics. The music ranges from upbeat, poppy rock to much slower folk numbers.

My favorite track is "Mountain / When My Father Came Back," which tells the Book of Judges story of how Yiftach inadvertently vowed to kill his daughter, who is never named. The tale is haunting, and the lyrics are quite beautiful:

When my father came back from the war
I knew he would want to see me first
So I ran out to greet him
But he fell to his knees in the dirt
He told me daughter
I have promised G-d to offer
The first creature that I saw . . .

The night he took me to the mountain
Neither of us spoke
We reached the peak together
Just as sunrise broke
I could have run from him
I almost thought he wished it
But I could not run from G-d

Check out Girls in Trouble's MySpace page and JDub's "lyric guide" for the album.

Image courtesy of Girlie Action