Not since Mudhoney and The Jesus and Mary Chain ruled the college radio charts have there been as many fuzz-driven bands as there are today. Groups like The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Spiritualized and Singapore Sling drench their music in a layer of distortion that is both mesmerizing and pure. Sacramento, CA-based The Low Flying Owls are riding high on this wave of fuzz, combining their own love of trippy jam rock with layers and layers of distorted guitar chords and keyboards. The band’s latest effort “Elixir Vitae,” while experimental at times, also captures enough melody to keep the listener entertained and excited.

The band formed the old fashioned way in 2000, after Jared Southard and guitarist Andy Wagner had posted ads in the musician section of the local weekly arts newspaper “The News Review.” Sam Coe [drums] joined after a recommendation from a mutual friend and Mike Bruce [bass] was actually a replacement for a female bassist whose punk rock leanings kept her from truly meshing with the band’s psychedelic style. “Mike was a guitarist, never had played bass before in his life, so he just picked up the bass and gave it a go,” Jared explains. Their strange name is a reference to Jared’s grandmother’s obsession with collecting anything related to owls. From owl pepper-shakers to owl pasta plates, “It was brainwashed into my head from an early age after taking naps on the owl rug,” Jared says. “It was pretty wild.”

According to Jared, the band’s laid-back sound actually started out slower. “When we started the band, we would have eight-minute long songs, and really nothing too fast or abrasive,” Hared says. “It was definitely a lot slower than it is now. Right now it is more of a 50/50 thing, which we like. I like to see bands with peeks and valleys.”

That doesn’t mean that the band has any ambition to speed up the pace. Jared says that the band is still working to find their style and that the Owls will continue to chase the sound that they want to have. “It’s just like a pursuit of sound, and we definitely approach each album as a new entity. A couple of years go by and you finally get a new record out, and so much has changed,” Jared explains. “We hope to capture how we’ve evolved as people and as a band. Every album that comes out will definitely have a different personality.”

Ask Jared about the band’s style, and he can talk for hours. Ask about how he gets those perfect fuzz soaked layers, and he gets a little lost. “Andy is our gear guy,” Jared says. “We use Fender Deluxe and Deville amps, we’ve got our own bassy settings, and Andy has an arsenal of effects that he uses. I just stick to a Danelectro overdrive and a Rat fuzz pedal. Mike uses a Peach Fuzz guitar pedal. It’s an everything goes attitude to distortion—almost like being in a kitchen.”

Surprisingly, the band does not take the same attitude to writing. Fans might think that the Owls jams-out their music on the fly, but everything is meticulously written on acoustic and piano before it receives its overdrive overhaul. “A lot of the songs are sketched out beforehand,” Jared says. “Some of the harder songs on the album like Glad To Be Alive and What My Friends Say were ideas, and then we got into the practice space and threw them down as a band. But definitely, the more melodic stuff like Strange Connection and Georgie Shot Johnny we actually sat down and drew them out.

Vocals are also a mystery on “Elixir Vitae.” Sometimes they aren’t heard from for minutes at a time, and then they just appear, and then disappear just as quickly. Jared says that there has never been a real concrete approach to his singing style. “When we get in front of people and we’ve got the band going, I enjoy singing, but I’ve never considered myself somebody who would sing a tune for the family,” Jared says. “It’s more of a craft, and something I enjoy doing for myself. It just comes naturally the way my voice fits into the band.”

So far, the band has released two full-lengths and an e.p. The Low Flying Owl’s little known debut record “Low Flying Owls Take The Scenic Route” has just received national distribution, as “Elixir Vitae” begins receiving national attention. The group has already had one full U.S. tour under its belt, and Jared says that the crowd reaction has been very positive. “We’re just beginning, and we’ve had some really good shows in New York,” Jared says. “By the fourth show we had a packed house at 8 p.m., which is really cool—People are listening. But there are those towns in the middle of the country where we played Ohio to four people that were there for the band going on after us.”

The fans that have caught the Low Flying Owls fever have become huge supporters helping garner radio play for the band in their home state. Jared says that in time, mainstream music might actually be ready for The Low Flying Owls. “You never know with the way things go,” Jared says. “Whenever something happens in the mainstream where it comes from an underground scene and becomes huge like The Strokes or Nirvana, nobody ever predicts it. It’s out of nowhere. I think we can do it… maybe.”