1 keeper
keeper avg .125
Personnel-wise, Owls is simply 90's emo band Cap'n Jazz without (future Promise Ring front-man) Davey von Bohlen, though sonically they're another thing entirely. Punk tempos and cranked tube amps have been replaced with deliberate pacing and light overdrive, with busy, elaborate riffs and rhythms. I admire their musicianship, as their complex parts are cleanly and intently delivered, so the sometimes dizzying riffs and melodies can become hypnotic (in a good way). Over most of the album there are interesting washes of notes rather than songs; the first few tracks can be reduced to one plainly heard catchphrase:
"Anything i can mistake in the dark for being what i'm looking for is good enough for me"
"Wake and walk and talk and take And wake and walk and talk and take"
"let's drive to Alaska"
"I know what i have to do and do it"
But on later tracks Tim Kinsella's croaked poetry can float by unnoticed. The one flirtation with Braid / Hey Mercedes style math-rock is "Life in the Hair Salon-Themed Bar on the Island," though it's more disjointed than most as Tim struggles to find a place over the noisy competition. The album's last track "Holy Fucking Ghost"**** is one of the most rhythmically straightforward and the album's most fully-realized work, flowing adeptly through three or so discernible parts before its dramatic coda, breakdown, and finally group chant.
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