JASON BIELER STOPS KICKING SAIGON, STARTS STRETCHING OWLS

May 16th, 2012 at 2:30pm
Axl Rosenberg

The name Jason Bieler oughta mean something to you: not only was he the guitarist for Saigon Kick — a band who will always have a very special place in the hearts of myself and Vince — but he went on to co-found Bieler Bros. Records (with his brother, Aaron — thus the name, duh), which has released or will soon release albums by such MetalSucks favorites as SikTh, Karnivool, Look Right Penny, and Stam1na.

So, needless to say, I was excited to receive a press release announcing that Bieler has a new musical project of his own, Owl Stretching. Yeah, the name is a little odd, but the music is good — you can definitely feel the presence of the man behind Saigon Kick, especially in the vocals (not surprising, given that Bieler was basically Saigon Kick’s co-vocalist, the way, for example, Jerry Cantrell was basically Alice in Chains’ co-vocalist). In fact, the Owl Stretching tune I’m not quite sold on is an update of the title track from Saigon Kick’s most famous album, 1992’s The Lizard. It’s not as offensive as, say, the updated “Shout at the Devil” Motley Crue recorded for Generation Swine… it just seems really unnecessary to me, and doesn’t top the original. Of course, I hold The Lizard in very high regard, so maybe I’m just biased.

Check out one Owl Stretching song below…