Posted on: September 13, 2007 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Birds and Batteries – I’ll Never Sleep Again / 2007 Self / 13 Tracks / http://www.birdsandbatteries.com

What the country’s new obsession with annoying Mario Cart music like The Snow Patrol and Hellogoodbye is, I will never figure out. Nor will I be able to forgive people like my sister, 17 and a cheerleader, for blasting the annoying, synthetic beats every morning for her workout. Good job, America, for getting away from your game of Tetris and instead creating whole albums full of music for such games.
The newest members of this bubbly, poppy genre is the band Birds and Batteries. Based out of California, (surprise, surprise), this bands’ blend of tranquil vocals and bouncy beats is nothing short of identical to almost everything in the genre. If such a genre could be made from G-rated video game music.
Hilights- or rather tolerable songs on the album, include “Turnstyles”, an indie style tune that quotes “I was drunk enough to speak, so I offered you a haircut”. Witty enough to be amusing. “Mythology: The Great Director”, an 8-minute long ballad packed with instrumental highs and lows, is another interesting number.

Unfortunately, not even the best of the album is impressive. The singer’s voice is tolerable for a short time, but quickly begins to seem whiney and compulsive. If he’s trying to model 80’s synth music, he’s doing a fairly decent job, but still not allowing his music to stand on its own.

I think that my favorite part of the compilation is perhaps the CD case. A black backdrop dotted with beautiful cream, pink and purple flowers entices the eye- and, as I hoped, would entice the ear.
I really wish I could say more about the album. If there is some depth, some strange mystical meaning to it, I have yet to discover such things. If anything, the childish beats help me to reminisce of the days when winning Donky Kong on my Super Nintendo was my motivation for waking up every day. Now listening to the music just makes me want to find a dark room and sleep.

Overall: 2/10

[Erin]

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