Artist: OwenAlbum: The Seaside EP
Comments: Emotional people of the world, rejoice! There is a new Owen EP out!
Ok, so being a Cap n' Jazz super fan, I am contractually obligated to like The Seaside EP, the latest release from Mike Kinsella, the once (and future? Please?) drummer of the seminal Chicago spaz-punk outfit. While I love the Jazz for their atypical song structures and genre-defining vocal delivery, I like Owen because it's nice music to take a nap to.
This seven song EP is more of the same from Kinsella. Softy strummed acoustic guitar, elongated, occasionally whispered vocals, lyrics about self doubt, sadness, relationships and...uh...overbites. While the songs are all straight-up emo for people who still love Garden State and kids who still really, really, REALLY believe in love, the EP is not without its quiet charms and good humor (the goofy cover of Xtreme's "More Than Words," for example).
The Seaside is a must have for mopey, self-defeating people everywhere. It makes for the perfect soundtrack to a pity party. And if you don't hate yourself, Owen is very good night time background music. Good shit to take a nap to.
Maybe I'm just an apologist or an obsessive or whatever, and I feel the need to support any side project / offshoot of one of my favorite bands. Maybe I'm just a dude with too much loud music who needs to unwind with something soft and quiet every now and again. Maybe I'm just a big pussy. Either way, The Seaside is another nice EP in an already nice career. If you can focus less on what is being said and more on how its being said, Owen can be as comfortable as a warm blanket. Just don't go in looking for verbal poetry ("You fucked a fever in me / and I'm burning up" on "A Fever." Gross).
A dude with a guitar, earnestly singing songs about feelings with a soft, soothing voice. Fuck else you want me to say?
And here is come Cap'n Jazz, post-hardcore and emo pioneers. Get into it!
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