There are bands that claim to be “out there,” doing something different, changing the musical landscape, rewriting the rules, and ushering in new possibilities for music’s future. Bold claims indeed, but sadly, most of those bands are doing little more than moving around the musical chairs on the Titanic. Their contribution changes little, and, if left to them, the fate of music is still not looking good.
But there are a few bands who are genuinely making a difference. And then, in a league almost of their own, there is Stray Owls. In the above analogy, Stray Owls are the mutha flippin’ iceberg! Man, the lifeboats, baby.
Never was an album better titled than their latest, When The Going Gets Weird and “Scapegoats,” which is now out with a nice video package, is an excellent example of why that is the case.
For a start, it is reminiscent of something that might have been found on an album from that strange Pink Floyd era between Syd Barrett’s psychedelic pop and that band really nailing down their identity on The Dark Side of the Moon. It flows rather than grooves, meanders and floats rather than drives towards its destination, a wash and weave of ambient sonics and strange musical flows, and embracing the same deliberate lo-fi approach that made Neutral Milk Hotel such a blissful place to spend a vacation.
The great thing is that “Scapegoats” isn’t even that representative of the album as a whole; no one song is, so broad and mercurial is their vision. So if you find it strange and avant-garde, outside existing genres, and brilliantly original, which it is, get yourself eleven more wholly different, equally unique, and mind-bendingly satisfying experiences by grabbing a copy of When the Going Gets Weird. Now!
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