Owls

Owls represents the sophisticated second act of the Chicago 'Kinsella' dynasty. Formed from the ashes of the seminal emo band Cap'n Jazz, the group consists of Tim Kinsella, Mike Kinsella, Victor Villarreal, and Sam Zurick.

While Cap'n Jazz was defined by chaotic, youthful exuberance, Owls pivoted toward a highly disciplined, avant-garde approach to indie rock. Their sound is characterized by Villarreal's unique guitar style, which utilizes classical-influenced fingerpicking and jazz-adjacent chord structures on a clean electric setting. This is anchored by Mike Kinsella's inventive, syncopated drumming, which would later become a hallmark of his solo project, Owen. Culturally, Owls bridged the gap between the raw emotionality of 90s Midwest emo and the technical rigor of 2000s math rock. Their 2001 debut, produced by Steve Albini, is a masterclass in dry, room-focused engineering that emphasizes the physical space between instruments. Despite a decade-long hiatus, their 2014 return, 'Two', proved their chemistry remained intact, further exploring fragmented song structures and Tim Kinsella's increasingly abstract lyrical preoccupations. They remain a 'musician's band,' cited as a primary influence by nearly every technical emo and math rock act of the 2010s.