White
Birds - When Women Played Drums (Grizzly Records)
It’s interesting the formats that bands decide to
release their music on. Should you decide to purchase a physical copy of White
Birds’ “When Women Played Drums” you’ll receive a limited edition cassette, a
flexi-disc of their “Waters” single, assorted stickers and button badges, and a
download of the album. That’s very exciting! A cassette? Can’t play it but I
want one. A flexi-disc? That I can play, though it’ll sound tinny and cheap – but
I still want one. Of course it’s the download that’ll get all the action, and that’s
only right. “When Women Played Drums” is an album of old-school, eerie, C86
indie fuzz. Remember the days when the Jesus and Mary Chain were the new Sex
Pistols and Mazzy Star were the great psychedelic hope? White Birds do and
their debut drips acid reverb, and whispered, lo-fi harmonies, like the most
beautiful Beach Boys demo, with Kevin Shields strafing the dials.
Previous reviewers have mentioned Arcade Fire, and
sure there’s an influence at play, also Fleet Foxes and various other contemporary
bands, but that’s just a single element of what White Birds do. They somehow
merge gentle, ghostly, dusty white clatter with pristine pop songs. It’s
dreamy, ethereal and not quite feasible, yet they make tracks like “No Sun”, “Hondora” and the fore mentioned “Waters” live and breathe. I’ve
not heard anything quite like this for years and I’m wholly converted to
whatever White Birds are preaching. Where do I sign up, and how can I get my mitts
on the cassette / flexi combo?
Simon M.
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