Reconnoiter is my 3rd official album under the name Friend Owl. (Since Emergency Biscuit was a posthumous Puppy Mill album and Oklahoma Gates is an EP.) The recording and musical style of Reconnoiter is drastically different than either Aokigahara Forest or Antelope, for one I recruited the girls and guy from The Makebelievers to play on the album with me, making it one of only two collaborations I've had since my formative days. Secondly, unlike my other albums this one follows a 'formula' of 2 guitars, bass, drums with tracks 1, 2, 6, and 9 containing synthesizers.
In a way it is a return to form. The guitars are much louder and the bass (though still rather prominent compared to typical indie rock bands) has a more even role in the mix. The songs featured are coated in distortion and reverb, usually run for over 5 minutes each, feature heavier percussion than normal, have vocals mixed very low, and tend to be guitar and bass oriented. I consider this album to be my strongest so far, even though in many ways it is my most normal and accessible (abandoning much of the texture and homemade aspects of the other two and injecting more pop/rock sensibility.)
Reconnoiter was written last year when my computer was broken. After releasing Oklahoma Gates I was hungry for a fuzzier kind of music... I wrote several of the songs in early fall before I recruited Khick to play guitar with me on the track "Tribute to Moths." After that it sort of developed into a full-fledged project and Jac and Jack joined. We called what we were doing "lo-fi prog indie" since we were taking elements from psychedelic and prog-rock just as much as we were punk and indie rock. In the end I think we fell in between somewhere. Reconnoiter is influenced heavily by punk, indie, noise-pop, psychedelic, post-punk, and shoegaze.
Lyrics aren't as abstract here as they were in Antelope, mostly songs are about self determination, vices, bible stories, and pessimism.
Jack Sheldon: Clean Guitar, Back-Up Vocals, Trombone
Khick Korea: Unclean Guitar, Synthesizers
Banjii: Bass, Vocals
Jacqueline Hart: Percussion, Programming
All songs were recorded in my bathroom using a 4 track (or an 8 track when synthesizers were used) and were mixed by me in my bedroom.
The tracks of this album are published under a Creative Commons licence, check the licence associated to each track.
Reviews for "Reconnoiter"
5 reviews
Friend Owl continues on its own singular trajectory. The simplicity of the songs' constructions here (guitars, bass, rhythms, vocals and occasional synths) completely belie the complexity of melody lines that emerge then mutute, overlap then disintegrate. Guitars mesh and collide in ways I've never heard before, except in previous Friend Owl recordings. Here is one of the very few artists who is taking familiar elements and completely turning them on their heads, making brand new shapes.
As with previous Friend Owl albums, most notably "Antelope.", words don't do the music justice at all. "Reconnoiter" is amazingly adventurous, maybe even in spite of itself at times. It's a new kind of water.
...aber nicht immer!
Die Musik ist nervig und einfach nicht mit 10 Punkten zu bewerten.
Es ist eben absolut nichts Besonderes.
Kein weiterer Kommentar.
The highlight of the Friend Owl are the bass and length of their works. Seriously, if anyone is reading this, it's wavy-gravy. The vocals are light, but are as steady as they ever been, but the persistent problem with this the beautiful voice is hidden behind the music. No matter, it's only a small complaint.
My favorite track is "Tribute to Moths" which manages to suitably display the brands post-punk sound to it with a bit of melancholy. Although "The Robert Beltran Dance Explosion" is a very close second fro me. “Minor Miracles” and “Khick's Boat Song” provide a pleasant flavor that differs from the other tracks. That is not to say the other tracks are boring, far from it. It's just nice that Friend Owl provided a bit of variety. From the top to the bottom of this record, each track kept me wanting listening and excited for more.
like the melodies in very particular "one trick monday" and "next thuesday" Overall, great sound
a mix of rock, punk, garage rock and indie.
The voice is really cool it a little reminiscent of the singer of Velvet Underground or the guitarist in the babyshambles.
I do not know . you know this bands?
The Song ´"Khick's Boat Song" is amazing,
your cover is just plain funky.
So my wish everything to remain so, but more voice please
But the band has even more potential, I know it;)
Thank you for sharing.
I would like to publicly apologize to this artist for my initial review of this album. Somethings have to be listened to more than once before I see it for what it is. This was an acquired taste for me. I am now on my third time through it. Obviously, there was something that kept me listening. Originality is sometimes over looked, because it is so different, people don't relate to it right away. If at first you don't succeed, listen again. Perhaps this album will grow on you, like it did me.
