Hello. This is Blair from Yellow Matter Custard. I've been asked to review the only self titled album by a band called Owen-B. I never heard about them before Klemen showed me them. They play what I can only call hippie rock, a mixture of rock, pop, acid folk all played with a youthful energy. They were lost in the shuffle of other hippie bands as this music, while popular amongst the kids, was never going to make record companies much money.
1. Share - Opening with the short intro Share, with it's acoustic guitars and wonderful harmonies it sets the tone for the album.
2. Daily News - This song has a slinky, funky groove. Mixing a bluesy swagger with lilting harmony vocals is a really cool thing. The song seems to be about a political injustice.
3. All We Are Asking - This one has that acid folk sound I mentioned earlier. With it's lyrics about love and peace and calves and bongos providing the rhythm, it has a light, airy feel around it.
4. Mellow Meadow - While the title may make you think of another acid folk song, it's a standard blues song with almost fantasy like lyrics about a hermit living in said meadow. It gets a bit faster at around 6 minutes picking up the energy nicely.
5. Share - This is the same song as the first one, but this time with some nice orchestral backing. It may not be necessary to the album, but adds an extra dimension to the song as a whole.
6. My Friends - A bit popper than the rest of the album, with a nice catchy guitar riff and melody. It also has a cool guitar solo in the instrumental section.
7. Weekend - The opening harmonica strains give this song a bit of a country feel. The song needs a bit more to get interesting and it does going into a bluesy riff with tambourine.
8. Leavin' It All Up To You - This almost has a circus feel to it. There are almost oompah figures on the guitar and points and it's strange with the otherwise heavy rock feel. I've never heard this mix before and it's really cool.
9. Out On Our Own - Starting out almost Santana esque with a Latin percussion feel, the song soon sets on a regular groove. I wish the song went some sort of percussion solo or something though.
10. Thank You For Listening - Classy title. For the end song, the singer tells us that they're appreciative of us all listening, but we shouldn't have really paid for the album. Cheeky.
I really did not expect this album to be very good but it really is. There's nothing groundbreaking on it, but for such an unknown band to have a almost completely solid album with very little dip in quality is very rare.
Personal Favorites: Share, All We Are Asking, Mellow Meadow, My Friends, Leavin' It All Up To You
Review made by Blair Lucas / 2011
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