Black Owl’s name suits their dark, rough sound remarkably well. There are comfortable swaths of American roots-rock, 70’s folk stomp, and 60’s guitar pop. However, the whole thing gets a proto-punk tint with the occasionally aggressive guitar work and oblique lyrics. The result is a strong-backed collection of wooly guitar rock that’s really going for something.

What that something is exactly, I don’t know. Maybe they don’t either. But everything comes together into a hauntingly compelling sound that can’t be ignored. Plus,I bet these guys wear all black, strum their guitars really aggressively, and yelp into the microphone when they play live. Should be worth checking out.

Press : “Mennonite Glam Rock powered by 70s Americana gas and 60s British Invasion power.” – Toronto’s NXNE festival

Preview by John Crowell @terriblesounds

About johnrcrowell

John Crowell began writing for Each Note Secure in 2009. He writes interviews and live reviews. Because he likes things that are weird for the sake of being weird, he is Each Note Secure’s resident aggressively unpleasant music enthusiast.

When not on the internet, John enjoys drinking banana daiquiris.