GAD! Zine

    The Friendly Fingermen are one those bands that can crank out effortless hardcore one minute and a heavy groove the next. Intensity is a non-negotiable with these Huntsville area musicians. A treat to just about any lover of heavy music. I got in touch with Fingerman(?) Anson Helton to find out more. GAD!: Who are you and how did this happen? Anson: B and members are me, Frank Cole, Jason Generic, and Jarrod Carmack. I think we've been doing this close to a year or so. Jason and I have been wanting to do a project together for a long time so we said fuck it, let's do it. Obviously, Frank and I have worked together a lot in the past, plus he's fucking a talented, so he was an obvious choice. Jarrod and I have also worked together and have been talking about doing something heavy and groovy for years now. I wasn't sure if he'd have the time but he answered the call annnnnnnd so we had our kickass lineup. I love playing with these guys, they make it soo

    Owls And Other Animals are a fairly stripped-down acoustic-y unit, but they have a firm understanding of how to make the most of their self-imposed boundaries. The songs are so whittled-down to their utter essence that even the tiniest variance hits like a blast. Opener "Crouchin' In The Corner" is business as usual until the cool keyboard kicks in. Tunes like the urgent single "Viola" and later album track "Big Lakes And Skies" are firmly grounded by the understated bass of Deondre (a member of the Trash Cats, with whom OAOA shared a Christmas album last year). Outside of a well-worn guitar, the bread and butter of any OAOA tune is the breathily soft and almost-singular voice of Colin and Dana. When they sing together, the room mellows into a candlelit basement. We're but the silent apparitions surrounding them, whirling in their bluesy choruses. The dreamy tunes of Owls And Other Animals are smart, well-written, and even-better-performed. T