close

Ghost Town - Owen Album Review

Posted: 4th March 2012
Review Info
Rating:
2 out of 5
Artist:
Release Date:
5th Dec 2011
Label:
Polyvinyl Records
Reviewer:
Matt Fancy
Ghost Town - Owen Album Review

Album Review

Aside from mullet sporting ex-footballer and eighties one hit wonder Owen Paul, not many Owens have troubled the charts. There was X Factor foetus Eoghan Quigg, but happily, after no one could pronounce the ridiculous spelling of his name, he was despatched back to the salt mines where he toils to this day alongside the twitching corpses of Steve Brookstein and that big guy from G4.

Owen, (AKA Mike Kinsella) the beardy singer songwriter from Chicago whose latest CD is called Ghost Town, is unlikely to be trading quips with Kid Jensen on toppy at any time soon either, for this is serious music for introspection and soul searching; beloved by young men in plaid shirts with bum fluff and pale interesting girls with thick framed glasses.

With production by Brian Deck and Neil Strauch who have worked with Iron and Wine and Bonny Prince Billy respectively, were in earnest, End of the Road festival territory. Ghost Town is at times mellow, at times lush and also, it has to be said, at times a bit dull.

Opener Too Many Moons contains a lilting, pretty guitar line and some fine strings while Kinsella explores his feelings through his cracked, weary vocal and strangles the pigeon French in the song to an untimely death. Oh, Evelyn is an acoustic strummer with another cracked vocal and more strings, this time with Owen / Kinsella imploring the aforementioned protagonist not to waste time feeling sorry / And dont lie down with salesmen. Wise words for us all in these troubled times. I Believe perks things up with a nice squall of guitar and a great crescendo but its hampered by a whiff of repetitiveness and the feeling that this has all been done before and better by other beardy bedroom dwellers.

Ghost Town continues in much the same way, with similar tempos and themes. Despite the occasional glimpse of something fresh and imaginative the percussion on Everyones Asleep in the House but Me, a nice bit of clangy guitar on The Armorie its all much of a muchness. Theres no zing or sparkle to the production, which is fine, but tends to stray way too close to MOR or AOR or whatever radio friendly dull music is called these days. And while you dont necessarily need zing or sparkle to make an engaging and rewarding record, you do need songs which grab the listener and pull them in. In the case of Ghost Town, Im afraid these are notable by their absence. Maybe someone exorcised them.

Matt Fancy