All Music The Owls' first full-length album is a giant step beyond their debut EP.... It takes them out of the world of workaday indie pop and into a more sophisticated world of bands like Camera Obscura, Young and Sexy, and Belle & Sebastian who add a large helping of drama and soul to their sound....When they blend together in different formations, it can raise goose bumps and warm hearts. Daughters and Suns is a real coming out party for the Owls, the record could steal some hearts .... (more)
Pitchfork "Minneapolis four-piece the Owls had one of the dreamiest indie-pop songs of 2004 in "Air", from debut "mini LP" Our Hopes and Dreams. "Peppermint Patty", from follow-up Daughters and Suns, shows the band continuing to delight in the softer side of the Velvet Underground (particularly Loaded's "Who Loves the Sun"), with their lush boy-girl harmonies, acoustic guitars, and plinking piano. It's a tender, nuanced song about a Belle and Sebastian-worthy protagonist..." (more)
Daughters and Suns (2007) For the Owls' much anticipated sophomore release Daughters and Suns, three songwriters Brian Tighe, Maria May and Allison LaBonne band together again with drummer John Jerry and special friends to create an unlikely musical voyage, aboard ships, carnival rides, airplanes; trespassing through backyards, human resources departments, and along dirt roads into the distance. Bitter yet life affirming, the Owls console comic strip characters, invent the perfect man, party on the eve of the apocalypse, explore the notion of empire, pay their bills by candlelight, and send flowers into sewers before bidding listeners a rousing adieu. Rich with melody and male/female harmony Daughters and Suns is buoyant, laid-back pop with gentle strikes of lightning.
Our Hopes and Dreams (2004) Intimate yet powerful, The Owls' first release Our Hopes and Dreams garnered enthusiastic critical praise, widespread radio play and landed The Owls on multiple Year-End-Best lists.
