tUnE-yArDs BiRd-BrAiNs (4AD)
3/5
By: Rachel Bolland
I don’t have anything against kids, in fact I’m generally pro-reproduction, but I’ve never really felt the need to have someone else’s forced on me while I’m listening to an album. So the vocal sample of a child saying that something is “FRREESSHHHHHHHHHHHH” in the opening track of Merrill Garbus’ debut didn’t exactly endear me to the record. In fact I found it just plain irritating, almost as irritating as the random capitals in the band’s name. However, the further through BiRd-BrAiNs you get, it proves itself to be much more than opener ‘For You’ would suggest.
After the annoyance of the beginning, ‘Sunlight’ allows the listener their first proper encounter with Garbus’ voice. While it isn’t the most beautiful you’ve ever heard it’s certainly one of the most interesting. Her grainy vocals bring a harsh, slightly peculiar edge to many of the songs, complete with strange wailing on ‘Hatari’. This track actually proves to be one of the most unique on the record and the first hint that this album is more than a recording of ‘Children Say the Funniest Things’. After the slightly surreal throat singing it suddenly introduces a very catchy riff that is later run under the distinctive vocals to create something really rather special.
The lo-fi production on the record really helps to make it more than just another album by a singer/songwriter, and it works very well on many of the songs. The simple ‘Synonynonym’, is a very bare song that displays Garbus’ voice at its most enchanting, accompanied by only a single guitar. However, it’s on the more intricate tracks that the production lets it down. ‘Little Tiger’ has so much going on, complicated drums and layered vocals, that the lo-fi style leaves a lot of the things that make it great lost in the noise. Everything is SO rough, SO grainy, SO lo-fi that the things that were charming about it at the beginning become almost impossible to listen to later on.
There are moments when it feels like this album could be something really extraordinary. Garbus’, as the only member, has to be applauded for making one of the more interesting and unique albums that has come out this year. Unfortunately this record never quite reaches its potential and at times feels like it’s just being quirky for quirky’s sake.
Artists in this article: tUnE-YaRdS
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