George Thomas & the Owls — Concert for Two Bicycles
George Thomas and the Owls' Concert for Two Bicycles starts off with a whispery tune called A Man on a Galloping Horse. It's more of a loping sound than a galloping one, and the remainder of the album follows suit, for the most part.
The bandwagon of new (weird?) folk has become festooned with ex-indie rock hipsters in recent years to the point where its wheels are approaching collapse. Not that all of those folks are bad, some of them are making very good music. like anything that becomes popular though, all of the poseurs and hangers-on have come out of the woodwork. That said, George Thomas ain't all the weird, nor would I peg him as an ex-indie rock hipster. This album is a bit closer to the field inhabited by Devendra Banhart than those of the more "out there" variety.
Having set off with such a diatribe, if that's how you decide to decode the previous text, Concert... is competent enough. On the plus side it's not loaded with mystical, earthy self indulgence. Unfortunately though, it really doesn't provide much excitement. The whispered vocals sound forced, and in-congruent in relation to the rather old fashioned folk music. The music is hushed as well, everything is muted. There's nothing wrong with understated folk music, but Concert for Two Bicycles sounds too much like an approximation of what the current folk trend dictates, rather than an original statement.
Having read some self effacing comments about this album written by none other than Mr. Thomas himself on his Myspace page, I can only assume that this album is the product of a bungled recording session, or some such other misadventure. It's encouraging that the problem has been recognized. Some great bands have been made to sound pretty crappy as a result of bad production and the lack of spontaneity associated with the recording environment. So hopefully this learning experience will enable George Thomas to make an album which meets his satisfaction in the future.