Finally, my most anticipated release of 2011. It came to me in a dream... it said 'I'm gonna kill you tomorrow'. Horrified, I ran to my mailbox when I woke up only to find the sheer terror that was about to unfold!
A package from Alex Grave Mistake? Oh fuck. I opened it and there it was. The new Night Birds LP in all of its horrific glory. I popped it into my stereo and my face melted and I died. It did kill me.
Okay, now to get serious. This album has been on repeat all week for me since I first put it on. I am not only satisfied but blown away at this debut LP by those dirty Jersey boys. 13 (coincedence? I think not!) tracks of cryptic lyrics, shredtastic music, and just.. perfection. From the opening riff of 'Demon Haunted World', the Halloween theme to this Michael Myers, it's already well-known that the next 20+ minutes will keep you at the edge of your seat, your hairs standing up, and your ears screaming. The Bird boys bust these haunted tracks one by one with some of the greatest energy I've heard in recent times. Tracks that really stood out to me were 'Landfill Land', 'Hoffman Lens' (written about the great 1988 film, 'They Live!'), 'Failed Species' and the ripping title track, not to put the other songs to shame! There are redone versions of 'Cant Get Clean' and 'Paranoid Times' from their 2009 demo and a killer instrumental track that sounds a lot like Hunchback (gee, I wonder if these guys know them durrdurr).
Not to mention how fucking catchy this band is. God dammit, dude, so catchy. I've been so sick of run-of-the-mill, boring, average hardcore bands who have nothing to say but "I HATE YOU I'M PUNK", which is why I'm extremely glad this album was put out. These songs aren't "FUCK YOU GOVERNMENT MIDDLE FINGER PUNX" anthems. These are "Hey, you remember that one horror movie that came out in like 1980-something that was super-gory and stupid? Yeah, so do I. I'm a nerd." which is exactly how to describe most of my conversations with other people (I'm a nerd). Night Birds' brand of twangy surf guitar over high-speed aggression and fucking complex as hell bass-lines from Joe Keller is one of those styles that can inspire a whole genre-full of fuckhead teenagers who wish they were in Night Birds. Which is awesome, unless that actually happens. Then I'll just hate those fuckhead teenagers and be the grumpy, cantankerous guy who sits in his room and grumbles about how he was there for that band that started the whole thing. "Grrr... back in my day, there was only one band doing that.. and they were good".
All around, I have to honestly say this is my favorite release of 2011 (so far!). Evil, fast, catchy, snotty, in-your-fucking-face rock n roll perfection. Buy this album. Give them money. See them live.
Night Birds streaming
Night Birds Official Facebook Page
Grave Mistake Records - Night Birds - Other Side of Darkness LP
