Yowie is an

experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...

band from

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, founded in 2000. The original lineup consisted of Jeremiah Wonsewitz on

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

, Jimbo "Moppy" or "Lil' Pumpkin" on

and Shawn "The Defenestrator" O'Connor on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

. Yowie plays a complex style of unprocessed instrumental math rock, composed of meticulously arranged pieces that rely on compositional techniques that are seldom heard in rock based music. It is high-velocity music of intense discipline, rigid structure and focused force. The music has been compared to math rock bands such as

Hella ''Hella'' is an American slang term that originated in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is used as an intensifying adverb such as in "hella bad" or "hella good" and was eventually added to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' in 2002. It is possibl ...

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Ahleuchatistas Ahleuchatistas are an American instrumental math rock duo that mix influences of jazz, progressive rock, avant-garde, and experimental to create a unique sound. The band was formed in Asheville, North Carolina in November 2002. Ahleuchatistas' ...

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and

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band Koenji Hyakkei. Despite these attempts at reference points, the band's sound remains difficult to characterize. There have been many attempts at describing the uniqueness of Yowie's sound, such as by Diana Benanti of the Riverfront Times, saying that "Music like this can't be made by mere people and yet, you couldn't write a computer program capable of producing this kind of brain damage. It's so grand in composition but honed and microperfected until words like '

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

,' '

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...

' and '

melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

' become meaningless abstractions." Yowie have been signed to

Skin Graft Records Skin Graft Records (officially capitalized SKiN GRAFT Records) is an independent record label specializing in no wave and noise rock, originally based in Chicago, Illinois. The label is largely responsible for spawning "now wave" genre, an upda ...

since 2001, and spent three years writing and recording their debut album '' Cryptooology'', released in 2004. Yowie recorded a song for ''Sides 11-14'' of the Skin Graft AC/DC series along with Colossamite, Pre, and Mule. After many years of writing and some years of contention with one of the band members, they reformed and recorded their second album, ''Damning With Faint Praise'' at Key Club Studios in Michigan in July, 2011. Jimbo left the band upon completion of the recording, and was replaced by Christopher Trull (formerly of Grand Ulena). The group toured Europe extensively in 2012 to support ''Damning with Faint Praise.'' Yowie recorded their third album ''Synchromysticism'' in August 2016. It was released in April 2017 on

Discography

*'' Cryptooology'' (

, 2004) *''Damning with Faint Praise'' (

, 2012) *''Synchromysticism'' (

, 2017)

References

External links

Yowie's Skin Graft Records pageYowie's Myspace pageReview of "Cryptooology"Yowie's last.fm page
{{Authority control American experimental musical groups