Mike Kinsella has been putting out a continuous stream of
excellent music from and around the Chicago area for more
than 20 years. He started in the punk band Cap’n Jazz with his older
brother Tim. They put out one full length album and a handful of singles before
splitting up in the mid-90s. Afterwards, Kinsella would briefly form American
Football, a three-piece math-rock band. They released one self-titled record
before splitting up too...
Due perhaps to the
underground legacy and success of these previous projects, combined with a very
loyal tight-knit fan base, Kinsella has gone on recording records and
touring under the pseudonym Owen. His records have been received fairly
positively by his fans and are mostly pretty solid. His intricate guitar work
and moody unwrought lyrics are thoroughly unique, a difficult task for a
singular singer-songwriter in an unrelenting sea of moderately talented
singer-songwriters.
Owen’s new record is
called L’Ami du Pueple. It’s his seventh
album as Owen and was named after a French newspaper published in the late
1700s. The record garnered a slight amount of controversy upon its
announcement, because its artwork features a young white girl wearing a feathered
Native American headdress bonnet. This was perceived as offensive by the
oversensitive crowd, but has no bearing on the actual record.
L’Ami is a fairly
quiet and invigorating record. Its Kinsella’s third record since the birth of
his daughter, and first since his son. His lyricism has definitely matured a
lot since his American Football days, and it shows on this record particularly.
While his record, Ghost Town seemed reflective and nostalgic, perhaps missing
the days of old, L’Ami has hopefulness to it, and a certain sense of present
especially with tracks like “A Fever” and “Love is Not Enough” feel very
in-the-moment and while the latter is rockier for sure, they’re both key to
getting a feel of where things are lyrically for Kinsella. And if they are an
indication, things are going quite well.
While the B-side of
the record does suffer a little bit with filler, the first side is almost
entirely without flaw. From the opening
lines of “I Got High”, the instrumentation is great and the lyrics are pretty
solid albeit slightly cliché triviality of some of his more romantic lyrics.
“Love is Not Enough” is kind of a front runner with that, but it’s also one of
the best tracks on the record. “Can we
find a place in heaven, that doesn’t flood when it rains?” Kinsella sings and
sends shivers up your arms.
While I did enjoy the
last Owen album, Ghost Town quite a lot, (I actually named it one of my top 10
from 2011at the time), I would say L’Ami du Pueple is superior, and his best
since perhaps his magnum opus, 2006’s At Home With Owen. L’Ami is a
passionately pure record that well balances Kinsella’s punk upbringing and
background with his folkie styling and intricacy. ‘
~Johnny
8.2
