£9.00 - On Sale
Here at Red Deer Club we are proud to present 'Concert for Two Bicycles' the debut Long Player by George Thomas and the Owls. After two years selling out of hand made cd-r compilations and running nights as Manchester’s premier folk club, we can only describe ourselves as hugely excited to be mutating into a grown up record label with this, our first official release.
We stumbled upon George last summer in Manchester, where he was playing shambolic and strangely touching live sets, claiming to be a woodcutter from the Peak District. Later, when the trees started falling down, we found this to be true. As for The Owls, it seems they're a raggle taggle bunch consisting of whoever George picks up on his travels, generally playing whatever instruments are at hand. Most recently this has involved stealing the mighty Viking Moses' band for a legendary performance at the Homegame festival, as well as an equally successful tour of the UK.
The recording of 'Concert for Two Bicycles' was split, we are told, equally between a garden shed in the Peaks, and a flat beside the railway tracks in Manchester. The resulting sound is one of humble charm, with a rare and at times almost unnerving closeness to the listener. Its an album that's full of warmth and an earthy humanity, where songs about the pleasures of the local bakery sit happily alongside those about the pests and diseases of garden flowers. They are songs that are dark like confectionery, yet hopeful like chemotherapy (he insisted we leave that in).
George himself will claim to be influenced by anything from Canadian hip hop to Welsh heavy metal, but to our ears the sound of this record lies somewhere between the picturesque ramblings of Gorky's Zygotic Mynci or The Beta Band, and the twisted storytelling of Smog or The Handsome Family.
In truth though, comparisons mean little, since this is a unique set of songs which could not have been written or recorded by anybody else. We hope you enjoy the album as much as we do!
11 TRACK CD ALBUM