Autumn Owls.

I got my first review copy of something yesterday. It was kinda odd getting an envelope and above my name was written "Thrill Pier". What Pete (my postman) thinks of the situation I have no idea. But free stuff is good so I'm happy enough for Pete to be befuddled (by all means send me free shit, CD's ... concert tickets, I'm looking at you Aiken promotions, I'd fancy a lie in on Tuesday morning, that's all I'm saying.)

I don't write much about Irish music here, I'm not quite sure why. I just generally don't have the time to do so I guess so generally focus on things I really like or stuff that might be of interest (this of course is the serial problem with blogs, there does tend to be a hooray for everything aspect to them but my reasoning is that if it's not your job, and you only have a limited amount of free time to write about things then why waste your time on something you hate when it means you might not be able to spread the word on something that you're really into) and if I'm being perfectly honest there's not a whole lot of local stuff that really, truly excites me. That being said I do think that this year has been quite strong for Irish albums and I have been meaning to get around to writing about how much I've been enjoying the sparse coldness of the new Waiting Room album or how Spectre And Crown by the Jimmy Cake is far more than simply the tour de force that is lead-single-of-sorts "Jetta's Palace" or how I think the first single off of Crayonsmith's record is a super pop tune (though they generally are disqualified from critical mention here under the "people I know I don't mention at length because I want to like their stuff and I'm not objective about them" rule I have in place here). Oh, I guess I just did.

Anyway a band called Autumn Owls sent me their EP this week. It hit me from right the off when I listened to it that these guys really, really like Wilco circa Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born. No bad thing that, and it's certainly a damn site better than really liking whatever it is that's resulted is there being so many dreadfully painful to listen to garage-rock and punk influenced bands stinking up the stages around Dublin.

There's 5 songs on the Insomnia Lodge EP. Good ones at that. At their core they're acoustic based americana tunes and come with all the accoutrements attached to that label; harmonicas, the sound of plectrums being dragged along guitar strings, and whatnot but what really makes them work for me is how they're wrapped up in droney synths, melodicas and ambient guitar noise. It's all very relaxed and meditative, perfect for late nights spent on the couch when you're not ready to go to bed yet or Sunday mornings when you're trying to get your head straight. Or at least I think they might be, I'll have to try them out tomorrow if I'm up before noon.

MP3: Autumn Owls - Overcoat Smile from Insomnia Lodge EP

Autumn Owls on Myspace.