Ryan Flannery & the Night Owls

Ryan Flannery and the Night Owls’ self-titled EP features five tracks of bubbly alterna-pop goodness in the vein of a caffeinated John Mayer and a modern Billy Joel. Flannery joined forces with John Burgess and Brian Klippel in 2008, after some years as a solo act, and these three turned into the nu-jazz magic that is Ryan Flannery and the Night Owls. Based in Wisconsin (and even winning the 2009 Wisconsin Valley Fair Battle of the Bands), these young chaps have hit the ground running with a distinctive sound and style that incorporates hooks, melody, and a little jazz here and there.

Released in February 2010, the EP opens with “The J Chord,” a decidedly happy, optimistic song with a hook that will have you humming it in the grocery store on a sunny day. The next track, “Midnight Run”, has a jazzier feel, with blaring trumpets and some cool vintage guitar licks paired with a funky piano. About a minute into the song, Stevie Wonder fans will be extremely happy – Ryan Flannery coaxes the funk out of the song with ease, and mixes in a jazzy dissonance with skill that really hasn’t been seen in any artist since Little Stevie.

“Midnight Run” leads into “Stop,” a solidly delicate song that opens with beautiful piano runs and shimmering chord changes that really make this song stand out. The vocal harmonization paired with the effects in the background border on the safe side of psychedelia, giving the listener a sense that Ryan Flannery and the Night Owls are touching a deeper emotional well in this song, in comparison to the easier listening of the previous songs. “Stop” evokes an over-saturated Technicolor world of beautiful sadness and a sparkling lushness that is generally only found in dream worlds and obscure hippie music videos.

“Black Palms” opens in a near-continuation of the lofty trip of “Stop”, but doesn’t stay there for long, as Flannery comes in with a comparatively powerful vocal that brings the song back to the usual Night Owls territory. The last track, “A Whim and A Prayer” brings back the lushness, with glittering instrumental runs and layered sounds, then turns samba-inspired, which gives way to a 1970s-inspired vocal harmony that slowly fades out. While Flannery and crew put most of their efforts into a jazzy, easy-listening, Billy Joel Mach 2 sound, their stand out tracks, “Stop” and “A Whim and a Prayer” are where they move into a more expressive territory and push their song composition into the experimental and unknown. Overall, a solid album with two exceptionally great tracks – 4 guns (out of 4).

- CWG Magazine