Slow Runner

TheOwlMag on Slow Runner

Slow Runner Damage Points [self-released]

It’s pretty awesome when you come across music that has something different. It could be smart lyrics, obvious personality, or even an odd use of the kick drum, but when it all comes together into one album, well, that’s something special. Slow Runner has nailed it with their fourth album, Damage Points.

Their signature sarcasm is accounted for in the peppy little diddy “Strange Days” with lyrics that would otherwise make the bottom of the bottle all too inviting, “Tilt your head back til the bleeding stops, fill your mind with pretty pictures, we’re lucky no one called the cops.” Despite the lyrics, singer Michael Flynn manages to invoke the spirit of the ’80s with sounds reminiscent of old-skool video games, which is pleasantly disorienting to the emotions. The entire album has this kind of bipolar feel to it. How real to life is that? Who doesn’t experience a messed up crap shoot of a life one day and then a spectacular sing-a-song-to-the-world existence the next every so often? Slow Runner has made a place for themselves in the indie-pop world, and they’re going to be here awhile.