Low Flying Owls
Indie Rock / Alternative
Comprised of Jared Southard on vocals and guitars, Andy Wagner on guitars and keyboards, Michael Bruce on bass, and Sam Coe on drums, Low Flying Owls’ music evokes early Pink Floyd, The Doors, The Flaming Lips, Radiohead, Mercury Rev and even The Beatles, yet is uniquely and utterly their own. Low Flying Owls are the intersection at which British shoegazer rock and California psychedelic pop meet, their music a “beautifully crafted sonic landscape” (CMJ New Music Report).
Together since 2001, Low Flying Owls have forged a reputation as one of the best bands in Northern California, drawing sold out crowds to their shows on the Sacramento, Bay Area and Southern California club circuits. The band has shared the stage with luminaries such as Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Clinic, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Creeper Lagoon, The Warlocks, The Stratford 4, Eyes Adrift, Jonathan Richman and Mike Watt, to name but a few.
Low Flying Owls’ critically-embraced Take The Scenic Route album, released in 2002, marked the band's first full-length release, followed by the release of a self-titled EP, both released through The Americans Are Coming Records, the label owned and operated by the band and their manager.
Most recently, singles label Isota Records released a 7” special limited edition single featuring a Low Flying Owls track called “Georgie Shot Johnnie”, taken from Low Flying Owls’ forthcoming album release, Elixir Vitae, on independent label Stinky Records. In addition to receiving significant college radio airplay in the US, “Georgie Shot Johnnie” has already been anointed by no less than John Peel, who has been spinning the track on his influential BBC Radio One program.
The forthcoming Elixir Vitae, set for release in the US in August 2003, marks the band’s national album debut, and their first for New York-based Stinky Records. The album showcases Southard’s lyrical penchant for approaching morbid subject matter with an ironic, satirical twist -- which Southard describes as a sort of “dark happiness” – and marrying this “happy-go-unlucky” approach with a musical mélange of explosive guitar-driven rock, British-influenced pop and swirling psychedelic grooves. Ranging from the eerie yet epic “Looks of A Killer”, to the balls-out rock & roll groove of “Glad To Be Alive”, to the twisted romanticism of “Strange Connection”, to the dark odyssey of “Mama Said”, to the Beatles-esque grandeur of “Georgie Shot Johnnie”, Elixir Vitae is hypnotic and richly textured, its lush melodies complimented by idiosyncratic and irreverent lyrics that would do psychedelic rock icons Syd Barrett and Roky Erickson proud.
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