Bear Claw, in its own words, has made a record that "is a documentary effort to capture the band at a particular moment in time." Not for the faint of heart, Slow Speed, Deep Owls is a dense, dark, and complicated song-cycle of post-punk / hard-core aggression along the lines of Shellac, early Minutemen, Unwound, and Thumbnail, and was overseen, not surprisingly, by noise provocateur Steve Albini. Vocalist/drummer Scott Picco tends to shout and scream the lyrics; however his natural voice on "Slippage" is most effective as he pines in atonal desperation "I lie to myself to be warm…wait for the sunrise." Dueling bassists Rob Raspolich and Rich Fessier's treble laden riffage, especially in the opening instrumental title track, evoke the type of experimentation in abrasive sound collages that the Velvet Underground simultaneously drew raves and revulsion for. Without guitars to temper the mayhem, Raspolich and Fessier challenge each other with abstract chords, interlocking motifs, and harmonics (check out the icy overtones of "Ask and You Shall Receive") to create an impenetrable wall of sound. A little more melody would have made this one accessible to the masses, but Slow Speed is an adventurous ride thorough American underground rock.
--Tom Semioli
