Ovens

Ovens fused power pop, punk, metal, and emo into a distinctive sound that drew equally from Black Sabbath and the Beatles. Compact tracks brimmed with melody and hooks, often ending either through a classical guitar flourish or a surge of feedback. Fronted by guitarist and vocalist Tony Molina, the group generated abundant material yet saw only scattered singles plus the 44-song Ovens collection issued during their existence.

The band originated in Millbrae, a Bay Area town, in the early 2000s with Molina on guitar and vocals, guitarist Rory Smith, bassist Max Schneider-Schumacher, and drummer Beau Monnot. Their opening EP, Beau Goes to the Hospital, was tracked in 2003 and appeared in 2006. Though members later voiced strong dislike for the recording, it nonetheless set the pop-meets-punk-meets-metal pattern they maintained. After Andrew Kerwin replaced Smith on guitar, Ovens kept recording and amassed enough songs for four albums. Label interest stayed absent until Tumult released the 44-song CD set titled Ovens in 2009. Momentum followed, bringing a few singles and occasional shows over the next several years.

Catholic Guilt released a self-titled seven-song 7" in 2011. Molina’s own label, Melters, put out a four-song self-titled single drawn from 2005 sessions produced by Fastbacks’ Kurt Bloch. Catholic Guilt added an eight-song 7" in 2014 whose tracks had been recorded in 2008, by which time Molina had departed and Ovens had effectively ended. He pursued solo albums, frequently aided by Kerwin, that echoed the band’s style and included reworkings of unfinished Ovens songs on his 2022 album In the Fade. That same year TankCrimes reissued the Ovens album, now on vinyl rather than CD.