Mezzanine Owls - Slingshot Echoes Review
Posted by Matt Stone on 02.17.2007
Tall on ambition, short on delivery...
Hearing claims of “indie Jayhawks” was enough to draw me towards this band. Being a huge fan of the Jayhawks, I waited in anticipation for this CD to arrive. After digging through piles of snow to get to my mailbox, it had arrived and I was ready to listen. My smile slowly faded, however.
This is not the Jayhawks.
This isn’t even the indie Jayhawks.
Slingshot Echoes sounds like it should have been the demos for would eventually become an album. Despite many comparisons to The Jayhawks and Jesus and Mary Chain, I keep hearing twinges of Pete Yorn, U2 and Coldplay in the Mezzanine Owls. There really isn’t much of a country influence save for the occasional jangle out of the guitars. While the above statement might have you thinking “wow, another U2?” you can calm down. While the influence is there, the performances lack confidence and focus, while the vocals lack definition and clarity. The songs are solid enough, but somewhere in the mix the soul of the music is lost. The vocals are nothing more than a mumble, barely discernable from the rest of the instruments and as a result give you nothing to clutch to when you feel an emotion should be present.
One exception to the rule is the ending of “A Draft”. The melodic and melancholy guitar harmony over the tail of the song says more in its 30-45 seconds than the rest of the album could ever hope to achieve.
Overall, there’s promise in this band. A little more confidence and less fear that someone might actually hear the vocals would move this band into a solid month long stay in my car’s CD player for sure. Until that can happen, and despite about 20 listens and wanting to like this band with all of my heart, I just can’t.
The 411: If you are a fan of meek guitars and muddled, inaudible lyrics, this is the band for you. If you want to hear a really bad album by a band that later went on to being a solid act, this album may be for you. Only time will tell.
