Mike Kinsella's softer side has come out as gentle, sadly poetic offerings from his
Owen project, an acoustic foil for his more electrified work over the years in
Cap'n Jazz,
American Football,
Owls, and other far less subdued bands. The stark honesty of Kinsella's lyrics and presentation in
Owen is a huge part of what has made it one of his most popular projects. It often feels as though he's confessing the darker, more hidden parts of his life directly to the listener, and it's an incredibly personal feeling. It's odd, then, that Kinsella delivers the same sense of warmth and intimacy throughout
Other People's Songs, a collection of eight cover tunes. The playlist reads like a young skater's mixtape from the late '90s, with acoustic renditions of songs by discordant sermon-sayers
Lungfish, bummed-out college rockers
the Blake Babies, and mellowed-out takes on pop-punkers such as
All and
the Smoking Popes. Translating youthful ebullience into somber beauty is no small task, but it turns out to be
Owen's specialty throughout
Other People's Songs. Kinsella's reedy vocals are joined at times by those of angelic singer Sarah Mitchell, resulting in a fairly straightforward reading of
the Blake Babies' noisy "Girl in a Box" and a stunning duet on a complete reworking of
Against Me!'s "Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart." Originally a tightly wound emo pop blast with vocals shared by
Against Me!'s Laura Jane Grace and Tegan Rain Quin from
Tegan and Sara, Kinsella and Mitchell recast the tune as a gorgeous, relaxed picture of fingerpicked guitars and cozy string arrangements filling in for distorted guitars. Like the best of any collections of covers,
Other People's Songs offers a completely unexpected perspective and at the same time makes us want to revisit the original versions and investigate the differences. ~ Fred Thomas