It seems our little endeavor in musical reflection and appreciation has grown notable enough to warrant that old chestnut – the unsolicited “please write about my band” email, of which we’ve been receiving more and more of lately.
And so, a new irregularly recurring segment is born! We Never Asked For This will be a short review of a band we never heard of before they crashed our inbox with ballsy swagger. As we try to stay positive on this site, we’ll only be reviewing ones we actually like. Sorry haters (and lovers of haters).
First one to make the cut is Sam Owens and his album How To Build A Clock.
Postcard ChaCha: I like this Sam Owens fellow. On How To Build A Clock, he manages to create a sound that is both delicate and grand in scope. With hints of Kinsgbury Manx and even sounding a bit like Jim James (“Bicycle in The Wood”) later on the record, this one grew on me quickly. HTBAC has a lovely and natural progression. It flows nicely and develops into a fun, totally catchy and beautiful record. Album picks: “It Takes Time”, “What Was His Name.”
Postcard Editor: I agree. Although this isn’t my normal cup of tea, there are a lot of nice things going on with this album. Clearly influenced by 60’s psych pop, the album often feels very familiar – sounding at times like The Kinks as sung by Jose Gonzalez – but Owens does it so well that it doesn’t feel like imitation, but rather a confident artist building on tradition. Album Picks: “How To Build A Clock”, “Bicycle In The Wood”
Check out the album in it’s entirety here.
Here are two interesting promo videos for the album.
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