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Friday, August 14, 2009

Review: Owl Farm - Don't Stop


Owl Farm - Don't Stop
2009, Owl Farm


Kingston, Ontario’s Owl Farm is back with another eclectic set of songs. Don’t Stop is the full length follow-up to last year’s Owl Farm EP, mixing elements of Lo-Fi, Garage, Punk and melodious Pop.

Owl Farm continues their crustacean obsession on Like Water For Lobster, a psychedelic guitar jam with one line repeated over-and-over "If you don't shake you don't get no cake, funky butt". The sense of humor here is overtly tongue in cheek. Seven Hounds continues in a Lo-Fi, Garage fashion wrapping guitar and moog together in a tasty musical confection. Teacher has a vague Beatles feel to it and is probably one of the more accessible tracks on the disc. On E.R.T., Owl Farm goes instrumental for a driven, British Pop/Punk feel that's full of relentless guitar, whereas Slip And Side combines the melodic push of the Beatles with a Ramones-style Punk attitude. This is my favorite song on Don't Stop. Invisible is a musical practice in social self-stigma, using paradox to point to the narrator’s miniscule sense of self-worth. The arrangement seem to suggest the emotional dissonance using sonic disagreement between two guitar trying to play together but failing to hit ever quite fall into harmony. Don't Stop closes out with Extinction, where lead vocalist J-P sounds a bit like Riff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Owl Farm is extremely creative and at least moderately disturbed; you must, at the least, admire their theoretical medication regimen if nothing else. Walking the line between moderately bizarre and downright disturbing seems to be their mien, and the music is appropriately rough to accommodate the B-Grade horror movie feel that surrounds the band. I really liked Don't Stop, although I can see how they would be an acquired taste. If you like your music with a dark and twisted side, then Owl Farm is definitely for you.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Owl Farm at www.myspace.com/owlfarmband. You can purchase digital copies of Don’t Stop at Zunior.com in both MP3 and FLAC formats.

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