Owls [LP]

Vinyl LP pressing. 2022 release. Tim Kinsella had spent the second half of the '90s trying to shake his past by writing far-fetched concept records with his dreamy post-Cap'n Jazz band Joan Of Arc. But that band's particular brand of art-rock never quite rocked the way certain fans hoped it would-thus, when word seeped out in the fall of 2000 that Kinsella had called in his childhood friends for a band that would essentially pick up where Cap'N Jazz left off, underground circles were abuzz with the idea of a more "accessible" sound being brought forth. This did not happen. Instead, Kinsella presented his Owls: a unique four piece collective that would blend free-jazz improvisation with loose and poetic post-punk that sounded like a Boy-era U2 taking hits of homemade acid. Though it wasn't quite the scream-and-strum return to form many expected, with Owls, Kinsella and his former mates have managed to reach out to a new generation of fans who can still respect him in the morning. Even when he is singing about having sex with Jesus.