Owen

Item: No Good for No One Now
Author: Tyler Baber

No Good for No One Now

(2002)

Reviewed by Tyler Baber

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Label Polyvinyl Record CompanyDecapolisJanuary 2003

acoustic indie rock singer-songwriter

Owen is Mike Kinsella, best known as the other Kinsella brother in staple Chicago indie bands Cap'n Jazz, Joan of Arc, American Football and the Owls. No Good for No One Now is Owen's second release for Polyvinyl Records.

I'm a huge fan of the works of the Kinsella brothers, so this is a bit of a biased review. Joan of Arc is among my favorite existing bands, so I can even appreciate the weird brother Tim. Owen is just Mike playing all of the instruments in his home studio, so he controls every aspect of every element of every song. While he had some help with Rainer Maria's Caithlin on his debut album, No Good for No One Now is truly a completely solo album.

Nowadays when people say "solo acoustic album" or "singer/songwriter," the head fills with images ranging from Dashboard Confessional to Bright Eyes to Ben Folds. Owen is less of an over rated acoustic act and more of a musical wonder, making one forget about the horrors of the pop acoustic bands and remember the gloriousness of people like Elliott Smith or Jeff Buckley. Intricate guitar work (not done in some strange tuning, mind you) is layered over glorious pianos, drums, bass, or electric guitar. Musically, No Good for No One Now lies somewhere between minimalist and Coldplay: it doesn't sound lacking or over done. Not quite as strange as some of Joan of Arc's work and not quite as simple as some of Cap'n Jazz, Owen has found the happy medium many musicians spend their entire career searching for.

Vocally, Mike is much more easy on the ears than his brother. His pensive and placid singing adds more power to his despondent words. "Poor Souls" and "Take Care of Yourself" highlight Mike's ability without pushing it too far. No Good for No One Now is as strong lyrically as it is musically and vocally. Anger and unrest shine through the melancholy and longing in each of the tracks. This is music for the dejected, these are songs for the depressed, and they empower as much as they dishearten.

With 7 tracks and 40 minutes, some of the album's songs last a bit too long. The music is not quite elaborate enough to make a seven minute song feel natural. However, this is the only complaint that comes to mind when listening to No Good for No One Now, and some other acoustic solo performers would do well to take notes from Mike Kinsella.