Mike Kinsella: One Up Downstairs, American Football, Owen

Mike Kinsella is the man.

The lead singer of One Up Downstairs, American Football and Owen has lead a long and under-appreciated career, so I'm gunna give it some appreciation.

One Up Downstairs

It started with One Up Downstairs, a four-piece that put out one three-song-long EP. The band had an incredibly short career, but the music it produced rules.

Check out my favorite from the EP, "Rememories," here.

It's fun, upbeat and hooky. The guitar and bass duet rules, and the drums tie it all together. It's an all around fun song.

Mike Kinsella is the lead singer. This song, along with One Up Downstairs' other two, is really light on the vocals, it's much more about the musicianship. As far as I know, Kinsella was not the guitar player in this band as he was in American Football and Owen. Nevertheless, you get a glimpse at his singing style in this song. It's a little airy, far from milky, and lacks grandiose tone, but it's concise and it gets his lyrics across.

American Football

With lyrics in mind, we'll follow Kinsella to his next project, American Football. Musically, American Football is One Up Downstairs on half-speed with added musicianship and added heartbreak.

Get your tissues ready, here's "The Summer Ends" off American Football's self-titled full length.

And here are the lyrics written out.

Thinking about leaving
And how I should say goodbye
With a handshake, or an embrace,
Or a kiss on the cheek,
Or possibly all three

Well maybe I've been wrong
Maybe my intentions are irrelevant
But honestly, it's not just for me
We've both been so unhappy
So let's just see what happens
When the summer ends

I can't tell what I like better. The music is great, but the poetry on its own is just as good. I could contently listen to the music without lyrics or melody, and I could contently read the poetry without the music (and I've never been the biggest poetry guy).

That's what makes American Football. It's a combination of that distinct Kinsella sound: the intricate guitar hook drum beat duet, the time signature changes, the catchy riffs and leads, and the overall funkiness (This is the saddest music I've ever had the urge to move to. Maybe not "The Summer Ends," but "Never Meant" and "I'll See You When We're Both Not So Emotional" are straight groovy); and that distinct Kinsella poetry, as exhibited above.

When the two come together, I cry while dancing.

Owen

One Up Downstairs has one EP to its name. American Football has a full length and an EP. Kinsella's solo project, Owen, is a different story. Owen has produced 5 full lengths and 4 EPs, spanning from 2001 to 2009. American Football's last effort came out in 1999.

Thus, Owen is Kinsella's longest and most productive effort, and it's slowly becoming my favorite. To follow the trend, Owen is slower and more lyric-oriented than American Football. Instead of the electric guitar, bass and drum in One Up and American Football, Owen is acoustic-guitar based, with occasional drums, bass, piano and ambient sounds. Of all Kinsella's projects, this one requires the lowest heart rate to fully enjoy.

His first album as Owen, called Owen, debuted in 2001. It's a 10-song effort, with bountiful sequences of trance-like guitar arpeggios, ambience, and slow, thoughtful poetry.

The second to last (and best) song, "Places To Go," tells the story of a traveling girl – presumably an ex-girlfriend of Kinsella – with some advice-through-poetry.

Before listening, I want you to read the lyrics.

I've a picture of you:

A parisian street

Early morning

Late spring

And I know what you were thinking

You were taking a break from life

You were traveling light

(A pair of walking shoes and a sweater)

You were where you were

When you pictured where you'd be:

Anywhere but home

Well, it's your last chance to change things

I know you've been getting by alright

And alright's okay for the day to day

But for the rest of your life?

An honest face like that

You just can't take back that easy

An honest face like that

I just can't forget too easy

(God knows I'm trying...)

Like I said, I'm no poetry guy, but as far as I'm concerned that's beautiful. It perfectly paints a scene with the first half, then perfectly paints an emotion with the second half.

Now give it a listen (sorry the video's labeled wrong again. It happens). The poetry is the best part of the song, but I feel like the music adds to it, gives it depth.

Owen's albums are all pretty equal, though I haven't given all of them the same attention. The album I've listened to the most beside Owen is At Home With Owen, which has a similar if more developed style.

The two best songs off At Home are "Bad News" and "One Of These Days." Enjoy.

I actually had the pleasure of seeing Kinsella as Owen last november. Northeastern's (the bastion of higher education I have the great honor of attending) music magazine put on a show and Kinsella was the first opener for Kevin Devine. If the aforementioned music magazine had any sense, it would have been the other way around.

Here he is performing to a much-too-small crowd. He played a great set, with all of the songs I've mentioned above and plenty more. But, with Northeastern being the kingdom of bros and biddies, he was booed, talked through, and generally not appreciated, except by the dozen-or-so people in this shot.

Kinsella deserves appreciation. He's one of the best songwriters out there today and he's still coming up with good material nearly 20 years into his career. Yet he still goes largely unnoticed. But then again, he doesn't make a music video in which he's half naked, covered in police tape and making out with a she-male while wearing sunglasses made entirely of lit cigarettes.

I guess that's what it takes these days.