Owl Paws

   The youthful lamb within the flock, curled up and afraid, waiting to be found. In a dark scene filled with the unrelenting sounds of screeching guitars and maniacal yells, this is Owl Paws. Their pristine twangy guitars laid over rich acoustic progressions, steady backbeats, and angelic vocal harmonies are the warm hug waiting for you after the show by said maniac. Their folk indie musings bring to mind great acoustic acts such as City and Colour, Bright Eyes, early Spill Canvas and Neutral Milk Hotel. With their new self titled release, Owl Paws chips away at a local scene sculpted by toughness to reveal the soft and warm underbelly.

While Owl Paws stick with the more traditional rock instruments throughout the album, sparse helloes of less traditional instruments weave in and out, appearing at precise moments as if their number had just been called in the waiting room. Xylophone’s tip toe on top of steel strings in “Party Johnson”, horns keep the melancholy party going in the outro of “Reluctant” and violins drop tears in the ballad “Eyes Of The Prey.” What’s even better is they rock the upright bass, a little used instrument outside of certain genres, generally not this one. 

Themes of love, life meaning and the hardships of being a musician in an increasingly relentless world conduct the beautiful symphony of melodies heard on the album. Love is a multi dimensional thing and Singer/songwriter Derek Schultz covers almost all bases; fear, heartbreak, late nights and the unspoken feelings we all encounter as we make eye contact with that special someone. In “Sleepless and Hollow” Schultz desperately moans “Both hands on my sides/the chalk lines are still white/I’m the kind of liar you want to listen to/I’ll never be the one to break the bad news,” showing his warm heartedness that breaks through on many of the tracks. 

Schultz and lead guitarist/back up vocalist Colin Hayes match vocal harmonies to a key and sound much like a fusion of a clearer higher pitched Conner Oberst and a weaker Dallas Green. Where Hayes really shines is on his shimmering lead progressions, more specifically the beginning of “Vultures” which invites the listener into a poppy dance number that embeds itself in the listeners mind, returning to you as you conduct your day. Backed by the steady movement of drummer Tyler Akers dancing around his cymbals like a bobble head on the top of your cars dashboard and bassist Tim Vickers revving the songs engine, “Vultures” draws listeners from their chair and onto the dance floor.  Akers and Vickers provide a strong rhythm section, steadily swaying throughout the album providing nothing too flashy, but constant, creating excellent dynamics. 

Recorded at Schultz’s home, The Complex SF and mixed by Sam Pura of Panda Studios the quality of the album comes out well for a semi DIY recording. My only complaint is the drums sound a bit flat, possibly to accompany the fat, low tones of the upright bass, but nevertheless could have been raised a bit. A more varied song structure wouldn’t hurt either, the soothing, swaying sounds heard on the album are great but a step outside of these borders would really be saying something for the band. Other than these minor flaws Owl Paws delivers a very solid debut EP, leaving listeners entranced and craving more.

Rating: 3.7/5

Young Love

 Hailing from the town of Ukiah, CA , a small speck of about 14,000 off of the 101, All Teeth brings the sounds of the boonies to hardcore with their newest release, “Young Love.” This dark culmination of everything gone wrong, released on Panic records, runs rampant with themes of loss, anxiety and depression. Recorded by Scott Goodrich at Imperial Studios and mastered by Jay Maas, this release shows All Teeth’s musicianship and originality as it shines through a prism of despair that shoots off into the listeners mind, invoking the darkest of emotions inside all of us.

Chock full of local cameos such as Juan Gabe (Comadre), Sammy Winston (Grace Alley), Cody Sullivan (Sabertooth Zombie) and Ross Farrar( Ceremony) and even Jay Maas of Defeater fame, All Teeth shows that they are an integral part of the local scene and are quickly rising to the top. One of the best thing about these cameos is the fact that complete creative control was left up to the guest vocalist on all tracks but the last two, “Long Nights” and “Disposable Me.” Spoken word recitals performed by Winston can be heard throughout the album and act as preludes to certain songs, enforcing the feeling of despair and loneliness in the listeners mind. 

It seems as if since the departure of ex-vocalist Jake Cash, the band has done some major streamlining. Cash’s vocals often were unoriginal, abrasive in contrast to current vocalist David Kellings throaty rasp of a scream and frankly would be better suited in a band geared more toward the metallic side of hardcore. Compared to I Am Losing, their 2009 release put out through High Fidelity records, the band has managed to strip away unneeded components of the machine and readjust the remaining gears to produce a borderline hardcore masterpiece. 

Musically All Teeth comes off as a culmination of American Nightmare, Suicide File, Blacklisted, Bane and even evoke elements of the almighty Converge. Creating chaotic riffs and pounding rhythms that are as dangerous and reckless as a runaway train full of ex-cons. In between these moments of chaos and destruction are progressions that focus heavily on dynamics, stop-start rhythms and slow groovy marches. At the conclusion of “Oh Disposable Me” the band ends the album by cutting away from a chaotic headbanger into a section that brings to mind a death march of lost souls. With drummer James Rogers dancing on the ride symbol, he conducts the rest of the band into a symphony of woahs, floating guitars, and borderline suicidal vocals leaving the listener to wonder, “Who’s this man I’ve grown to be?”

A major stand out on the album is the second track “Caller I.D” with its infectious rhythms kicking in after the conclusion of an intro that coerces the listener to eagerly anticipate the rest of the song. A series of softly accented floor toms slowly build up to their heaviest moments, then cease and repeat as an open ended guitar riff is continuously played in the distance. Once the song begins the listener is entranced as Kelling's vocals dance between the drums and guitars. Halfway through the song the guitars cut in and out as bass player Mike Fenton keeps the the party going by encouraging every kid in the crowd to stage dive simultaneously through his downbeat bass line. 

All Teeth brings something truly fresh and new to the hardcore round table and all the knights are listening. It is one of the few albums that a listener can quite literally feel the intensity and energy of the bands live show flow through their ears. If you don’t believe me simply listen to the quasi-reggae jam at the end of “Goodbye Faye Dolan.” Combine this with an outstanding show of musicianship and artistic sensibility and you have one of the best hardcore albums released this year. In the words of Kelling “I’ve never heard a sad song I didn’t like.” Too true Dave. 

Rating: 4.3/5

Halfhearted

“On the inside/On the outside/I’m totally lost” the young band from Portland Oregon, Young Turks, distortedly proclaims in a confused conclusion of “Lost” the second track of their debut EP “Half Hearted.” Young Turks seems to have found the perfect formula for crafting their quasi unique brand of hardcore. Taking one part high energy intensity in the veins of American Nightmare, melodic structures and emotive lyrics via Go It Alone, Defeater and Modern Life Is War and the punishing back breaking power of Cruel Hand. Throw all this into a giant pot full of angst, anger and confusion, season it with highly personal lyrics and you have “Halfhearted”. 

Featuring ex members of Broadway Calls and Hell and Reason, Young Turks keeps the spirit of Portland alive with a enlightening take on a genre that can easily be rehashed as much as the next R&B auto tune radio hit. Mixing the best elements from each section of hardcore, as if picking from an orchestra of heavy music, they manage to harness each aspect to their advantage. For a first release this is quite impressive. While it is nothing groundbreaking they are definitely headed in the right direction. 

Pounding drums give footing to seemingly fluid guitars that go from hardcore circle pit insanity to swirling melodic progression, aiming to pluck at even the coldest of hardcore kids heart. The end of “Control”, the final song on the album hits this mark dead on through a despairing progression. A delayed guitar gives way to a rising palm muted riff that slowly builds up so much tension, that when it’s released it’s as if an emotional dam has been broken and the pain being held back flows through the listeners ears and chills the mind. Follow this up with the spacey and cutting lead that enters as the outro reaches its peak and you have one of the best parts on Halfhearted. 

Be sure to keep an eye out for this band as they have the potential to do some great things. Half Hearted is semi-original and nothing earth shattering but is a small step towards jumping over a very large musical gap. The abyssal chasm that hardcore tends to lead itself into. If Young Turks can fine tune there sound enough to find that perfect mixture of melodic, fast and heavy, then soon they will be climbing their way to the top of that metaphorical hardcore canyon. 

Rating: 3/5

Be on the look out for the tape release of Halfhearted on Heart In Hand Records.