Customer Reviews

Owl & Pussycat

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This will probably go out of print sometime soon due to the lack of promotion behind it, but the Owl and the Pussycat put out one of the year's best records. Lois and one of the members of the Moore Brothers combine to make some really great indie-folk-pop with some really cool harmonies. I would recommend it to anyone that has heard either of the two artists that are part of this group. If possible, try and download Tigers before you buy the record to get an idea of how good the album actually is.

Currently, I am folked out. I know a lot of supremely talented people in "twang" bands and I wish they would hang up the dobros and mandolins until they are ready to do something besides cover Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, The Byrds, etc. It's not that the music is bad or that their talent lacks at all -- it's just that they are echos rather than new sounds. Folk as a form of music can be so diluted that it hardens hearts toward it (at least mine) instead of bringing new listeners "into the fold."

That's what makes "Owl and the Pussycat" such a breath of fresh air. Released on the resolutely punk, culturally acidic Kill Rock Stars Label, it's certainly an anomaly. It's calm and quiet and skilled, yet far from the impotent aping of "Whiskey In The Jar" or "Red Haired Boy" that plague bands from bluegrass to metal.

Songs like "Tigers," "Don't Play Me" and "Company" blend contemporary references with the simple ingredients of acoustic guitar, male voice, and female voice. Conventions and pretensions are ignored for good, pure, simple, spare songwriting. Owl and the Pussycat do not dazzle, but they quietly conjure excellent melodies and memorable songs. They seem just as weary of the folk stereotypes that I am weary of, so they effortlessly transcend them.

Not only that, but the CD's packaging is quite gorgeous.

The cover was a bit marked up, but it serves my purposes just fine. No problems with the actual disk, and that's what really counts.