When Girls emerged a couple of years back, their fondness for waxing

lyrical about chemicals – plus a truly couldn't-make-it-up

backstory – seemed to get in the way of the fact that their debut (called simply Album) was full of great songs. True, they built up a small but

dedicated fanbase hooked on their acid-fried, lovelorn pop

songs, but it seemed as if just as many were keen to dismiss the band

as druggy chancers. Between albums, however, there appears to have been something of a sea change – early reviews by Spin and NME suggest Father, Son, Holy Ghost to be a masterpiece. Is it?

On first impressions, there's nothing as immediate as, say, Lust for Life or even as fully realised as Hellhole Ratrace – but then, that doesn't seem to be the point. Those who want simple three-minute pop songs with big choruses can look away now. If you're interested in exploring a series of fractured, outsider laments about lost love that seem to wander off in random directions whenever the hell they feel like it, then read on.

Take Just a Song, which barely does what it says on the tin – the band unafraid of leaving caverns of space before they get around to spinning a web of lo-fi folk. Or Forgiveness, perhaps the most stunning track. It spends nearly eight minutes barely breaking into a whisper as

Christopher Owens sings: "Nothing's gonna get any better/ If you don't have a little hope, if you don't have a little love … in your soul."

Then suddenly it explodes into Pink Floyd stadium riffs, before uniting the two wildly different sections for an explosive coda. Straight after, as if to prove Girls can do proper, well-honed pop songs, comes Love Like A River – a shamelessly retro slice of 60s soul right down to the gospel singers and lyrics about Owens's love being "like a river, she just keeps on rolling along".

This mix of big-hearted pop melodies with half-formed arrangements, lo-fi production and a reluctance to settle on a specific sound recalls Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers. There will be reviews in the Guardian and Observer over the coming week, but for now we're officially declaring it a "grower" – let us know what you think in the comments section below.

• Father, Son, Holy Ghost is due on 12 September.