Let's start with the beginning. For me, Owun is new. I have never heard of them before. Yet, the band exists since 1992 and released a first demo three years later. Back then, they blended noise rock, hardcore and new wave. Their second effort was an eighties inspired album and later on they incorporated elements from ambient, drone and electro. For a while, the band disappeared, only to resurface again in 2007.
Now, they released another album, simply named '2.5'. This one contains pretty much all of the above, and more. From noise over post rock to noise rock and psychedelic shoegaze, flavored with drones and electronics, Owun has it all, which obviously makes this extremely hard to categorize. Yet, if there is one comparison, it might be Primus meets Melvins as at least one of the band members if a big Les Claypool fan.
Then again, there is also some post rock present here, showcasing immersive instrumental rock songs and hypnotic soundscapes. Yet, the whole thing is usually a lot faster than typical post rock. Still, I wouldn't mind this band showing up on Dunk! festival or so. They will be a bit different from most of the other bands but I'm sure that they will put up an impressive show. I don't know. I guess I'm just becoming of a fan of this band.
So, to conclude, who to recommend this album to? I think answering that question is quite easy. I'd like to recommend it to all noise and post rockers out there, especially the ones that like to deviate from the norm once in a while. '2.5' is a very adventurous album, one that you won't easily forget.
​Serge