 Owen
"At The Races" CDR
Girl
In A Box Records
Genres: lo-fi, indie pop, folk-rock
email the band
May 10 - 16 2004 |
Make no mistake about it, Owen's At The Races is an
extraordinarily lo-fi affair. This duo, consisting of
independent musicians Zachary Carroll and Kenneth Martin,
is extremely dedicated to producing unique, homemade sounds. Their main genre is definitely hometaper - due largely to the
limited sound quality of their trusty four-track (hey, who's
complaining?) - but their style also shows a diverse array of
influences. Folk, country, rock, and even electronic music are
all tapped.
To the average listener, this release will be a somewhat daunting
listen. The songs are very lyric-based, which is a problem when
the sound quality obscures much of the vocals. As well, lots of
these tunes are melodically bland and repetitive. "The
Mighty Geat," for example, has some funny lyrics, but suffers
from a boring guitar part. Owen's sonic experiments also
fail to add anything of value to the mix. The intentionally
atonal "Chapter 10" is just a hokey electro/piano display,
though it's fortunately short.
At The Races also features its fair share of good
moments. "Wearing A Flop" is actually a very enjoyable
tune - even if its verse has a distinct similarity to a certain Coldplay
tune. "Better Days Than Then" is also a pleasant
though unexciting acoustic folk-pop ditty - it would be really nice on
a cute indie pop compilation. Also nifty are the spacey "D
Am7" and the clever "Rubick's Cube"
Perhaps Owen tried to put too much on this album.
Perhaps they can't distinguish between the good and the bad well
enough. Either way, this disc boasts some nice moments, but is
plagued by too much filler. Keep the melodic content high and
the experimentation low next time, Owen.
70%
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 15 tracks, distributed by the
band, released 2003] |
