| CD REVIEW Weird Owl |
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Band : Weird Owl Not a lot I can tell you about this Brooklyn based quintet, because there was not background given with the download promo of the album, and neither was there much to find on the Internet. As far as I know they (being singer/ guitarist Trevor Tyrell, guitarist Jon Rudd, keyboard & synth player John Cassidy, bass/ keyboard & synth player/ backing singer Kenneth Cook, and drummer Sean Reynolds) were founded in 2004 and still “came out of the blue” with the February 2009 release of their debut full-length Ever The Silver Cord Be Loosed. On it 8 songs around 5 minutes or more (for an album length near 46 ½ minutes) which were described as a mixture of '60s Psychedelia and '70s Rock and some Americana to boot. Comparisons were made like “...sonic mindscape inspired by legendary acts such as 13th Floor Elevators and Crazy Horse that states its relevance to modern-day masters Black Mountain, Dead Meadow, and the Black Angels...” (Dave Allen of Gang Of Four), or “...takes its cues as much from the secrets of esoteric literature as from legendary acts such as The 13th Floor Elevators, Captain Beefheart & His Magical Band, Love, and Crazy Horse...” (Amazon.com review). For their sophomore album the band went a slightly different route than with the debut. With some basic tracks recorded at Vermont's Verdant Studio with Justin Pizzoferrato (whom you might know from having worked with the likes of Dinosaur Jr., Witch, and Sonic Youth in the past) the band actually finished the recordings and did the mixing at Kingston (NY)'s The Drawing Room, collaborating with Justin Rice o Bishop Allen. The songs are quite shorter this time around, and according to the lead singer the album “...represents Weird Owl on its most structured and melodic incarnation yet...”and, well indeed, only 2 songs surpass the 5-minute boundary, the 15 songs only totaling 42 ½ minutes. If you'll allow me to cite some passages in the band's bio, I'll give my personal assessments as we go along. “Weird Owl's sound comes from several ages at once. Most obviously, the band is rooted in '60s Psychedelia...” (quite correct), “...but there's also a strong surge of '70s Rock pushing through much of its music...”, (check!) “...influences from Blues and Americana...”, (dù-uh...that's so evident, seen the prior statements!), “...can be found in the slide guitar playing and yet there are heavy songs...”, (wow dudes, let's not exaggerate!) “...throbbing with reverb-drenched guitar...”, (cor-rect...) “but still possessing a Crazy Horse-like back-to-the-land feel...” (now, that sounds more like it!). About the vocals, I am not so much in agreement with the label people, who state (they), “...bring to mind Neil Young's singular yelp...”, (you gotta be kidding me!?) “...cutting nasally and angularly through the mix...”, and you see, while the statement is correct, one can view it in different personal ways! For me, those words accurately depict the negative feel I get about the vocals. Unless you're listening to the album at low volume, the high-pitched nasality will indeed cut through the music in a way which I have found to be head-ache inducing. Don't get me wrong, I love WO's music...but I cannot force myself to listen to it through the headphones for too long due to those rather sharp vocal stylings (which, to boot are also occasionally somewhat off-key)! Of course, you're free to make up your own mind(s). For samples/ full-length audio on the band, check the band's pages at (www.) teepeerecords.com (3 tracks off the debut), (www.) reverbnation.com (more material off the debut and two songs of the new one), or (www.) myspace.com/weirdowl (no idea what's on there, as my network pc did not allow me to log onto that recently upgraded website). 79/100 Tony. |