What I know about the Mezzanine Owls comes from two places. One is their website where they are generously described as “indie Jayhawks meets shoegazer” by an obviously enthusiastic magazine writer. The other place is their 4-song, self-titled EP which recently hit my door.
With only four songs and scant drops of hyperbolic quotes to work with, the Mezzanine Owls are still a mystery to me – at this point, that I’m still curious for more information, and for songs, is a terrific sign. The droning shoe gazer guitar is indeed there, as hinted at, and its smeared all over tracks like “Snow Globe” and “Drift”, the latter of which opens the EP with a frenetic feeling. They’re lovely nuggets of sweeping rock nostalgia, harkening back to semi-obscure bands like Ride who defined a misbegotten genre. The Mezzanine Owls are right there, for all ten-minutes of their EP; even the vocals are present, plaintive and backed with the requisite drones and moans. The star song though is “Ghost Ship” a song that builds and builds, but never gets built. Get it? The element of anticipation is all over the short record: moments are set-up, but rarely paid off in a sense. There just isn’t enough time. Get it?
It’s that mystery element thing again, perhaps the best compliment that can come from 4-songs and hope. If the LP follows this up, I’d put it in without hesitation.
|