"What’s initially striking about Columbia, Mo.’s Nonreturner is how their music reverberates with the stately, supernatural beacons of the world’s iconic mysteries—this could be a perfect soundtrack for a trip to a Mayan pyramid or a voyage through the Bermuda Triangle."
-Mike Rengel, PLAYBACK:stl
Not all dreams are nocturnal visions of bliss—they’re often disorienting and haunting—but despite this, they also fascinate us. Nonreturner’s sound reflects the truest definition of dream pop with electronically infused guitar compositions that at times reflect those beautiful moments of our subconscious minds as well as the darker demons that lie within. Synthesizer, lightly reverbed guitars, laptop samples, low-key basslines and precise drumming make up Nonreturner’s instrumental arsenal.
Nonreturner has been described as sounding similar to “Radiohead circa Kid A and Amnesiac; The Church; a rock-n-roll Autechre, if such a thing dared to exist; The Verve’s first two LPs; the busy three way intersection of psychedelia, indie rock, and IDM†( PLAYBACK:stl ) “it’s a little bit ambient, a little bit shoegaze, a little bit indie-pop†( A Ravenous Horde )
Their first incarnation, Barn Owl (formed in 2005) was a three piece consisting of old high school friends Zach Biri, Michael Hopkins, and Zach Scott. After Scott’s departure from the band, Logan Epps took his place on drums Later the sound filled out with the addition of John-Paul McFarland as a multi-instrumentalist and bassist to complement Hopkins’ guitar and Biri’s multi-intstrumentals. In 2008 due to a wealth of other bands under the name Barn Owl, the band underwent a namechange to Nonreturner After McFarland left the band in 2009, Clint McMillen from label-mate band Ursus Arctos filled the hole in late 2009.
The band has two releases, the first under Barn Owl as the Barn Owl EP , which shows the seminal stages of Nonerturner’s sound which evolved into more fully realized compositions with Nonreturner’s first full length eponymous release in 2008 called simply The Nonreturner . They have also been featured on Yards & Gods label compilation volumes 1 and 2. As proponents of free music, Nonreturner and Yards & Gods offer nearly all releases for free download on YardsAndGods.com and Nonreturner.com , and physical copies can be obtained on a "pay what you want" donation style basis at live shows.Nonreturner is in the writing stages of a follow up that will hopefully be released in 2010 or early 2011.
