Andy Herod needed a break. After living in Brooklyn for years, recording and touring with indie band The Comas and basically being immersed in the grind of producing and trying to make a living off of music, Herod decided that being in a band was "ruining my life." So he put The Comas on hiatus, traded New York for the hills of Asheville, NC ("a breath of fresh air") and just disengaged from the creative process for a while. "What happened though, " he says, "is that I started listening to music again." Recharged, he soon fell back in love with songwriting and playing - though this time with a potent grab bag of retro music styles that reflect the music that he's always loved.

"...I just started pulling out all of this old stuff and listening and remembering and learning all over again what used to really electrify my heart," Herod reflects. "Without going into all of the musical references, I will just say that it was all classic and timeless and beautiful stuff. Stuff I had forgotten because it had fallen out of fashion in my mind."

The result of Herod's reinvigorated creativity is a new moniker - Electric Owls - and a captivating debut: Ain't Too Bright, an irresistable mish-mosh of styles that manage to evoke 70's glam rock, 80's prog/rock and 90's indie rock grit...sometimes within the same song. Folksy country acoustic riffs and twangy stomps evolve into T-Rex-styled boogies. Glittering synth lines and tympani flourishes that would make a Styx fan cry merge into a ragged, sneery singalong of "Teenage Wasteland" power. Ain't Too Bright shines with that exhilerating and daring energy that comes when a unique individual style combines with an inspired reshuffling of the musical influences deck. And did we mention that it's just fun?

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