Posted on: October 24, 2012 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

 

State Bird’s “Marching Thru The Wilderness” is an interesting album. State Bird reminds listeners of a few different acts. There seems to be the same large-scale sound that acts like The Boy Least Likely To and The Flaming Lips. The band is so off the wall that tracks like “Behold the Lamb” has a bouncy, almost Beatles-like feel to it, while still maintaining a current sound that will put State Bird alongside acts like the Dresden Dolls and The Rapture. Each of the songs has such a large possible audience to it; State Bird create what is essentially a “SMiLE” for 2006.

“A Great Divide” is another strong track by State Bird, and is exemplary in showing their approach to creating a CD. The shorter tracks means that “Marching Thru The Wilderness” is a short album, but the replay value is off of the charts. There are so many different threads during “Have I Forgot” that individuals will feel that the three and a half minutes allotted to that track are more like five or six. Taking “He Is Light” alongside “Have I Forgot” provides listeners with two distinctly different views of State Bird, something that only becomes more prevalent during the middle section of “He is Light”. The more taciturn vocals of the track clash nicely with the twinkling musical atmosphere of the song.

The band self-released this album, but I believe it is only a matter of time before the act is on a label like Young God, providing their brand of interesting rock to a much larger radius of listeners. For the next State Bird album, I could conceivably see the band doing nearly the same thing as “Marching Thru The Wilderness”. The style of the disc has not been rendered trite by State Bird on “Marching Thru The Wilderness”; rather, the band has restored the good name of the genre completely by the end of “In The End (The Reception).” For anyone that is a fan of pop-infused rock that still holds earlier styles sacrosanct, State Bird is the act to pick up. As was mentioned, they may not be a big band at this current moment, but I have a feeling that their stock will rise as more and more individuals find the magic that is State Bird. The disc may be short, but it will stick with listeners for months, if not years, to come.

Top Tracks: A Great Divide, He Is Light

Rating: 7.1/10

[JMcQ]

Leave a Comment