Do you remember that forgotten space station marooned in some remote corner of the universe populated by two half-insane astronauts? You’ve probably seen it in a late night movie that blurred in your mind years ago. It seems impossible, but at some point our two lonely and mostly-out-of-their-minds astronauts get it together and figure out a way to bring that space outpost limping back home. Lost in the Glare, Barn Owl’s newest record, is the soundtrack for their slow but inevitable trip back to Earth.
Evan Caminiti and Jon Porras make up the core of Barn Owl. This band has quickly become one of the finest purveyors of psych-doom-folk, driven by the guitar onslaught conducted by Porras and Caminiti. “The Darkest Night Since 1683” really brings together everything jaw-dropping about Barn Owl. You get the frenzy of guitars, but you also get the cooling, meditative, ambient lull of those guitars. “Devotion I & II” are excellent songs as well. Here, over the course of two tracks, Barn Owl stretches the concept out a bit and slowly builds from quiet whispers of guitars to a completion of epic noise. Unlike many other bands in this genre, Barn Owl is very good at keeping the reins tight on their noise. There is chaos but it never sounds sloppy. Often the noise rages but there is a melody the charges through the storm and is even more rewarding when it emerges on the other side.
Lost in the Glare is a fantastic album filled with nuanced atmosphere that promises a fresh listen on repeated plays. This record is a gem of ambient hypnotism balanced by well structured walls of sound that will impress long-time fans of the band and the genre, and also serve as a fantastic introduction to both for the uninitiated. Don’t miss this one.
Barn Owl – “Turiya” [MP3]
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