Bowerbirds – Upper Air
I think Bowerbirds are an excellent, excellent, band and I was really glad to have caught them at the beginning of July on their way through town. If nothing else, the show really impressed upon me how good their brand of folksy-Americana is. Their music is not manufactured, not created through some type of electronic music creating machine (auto tune?), nor do they hype you up or charm you into buying their records, they just know how to sing and play instruments. And they’re really good at that.
Their last record, Hymns for a Dark Horse, was pretty awesome (#6 record of 2008) and the new one, Upper Air, isn’t a huge departure from their debut effort. The record has the same classical guitar, vocal harmonies, light percussion, sort of sound that worked so well for the band on Hymns. Nor does the band venture into any sort of risque territory thematically, they still sing pretty love songs about nature. So, really, in my books Upper Air is really like an extension of Hymns for a Dark Horse; not a collection of b-sides (this definitely isn’t Suf’s Avalance), but more like the second season of a TV show — you know the cast, characters, themes, and if you like it, that’s a good thing.
Part of me finds it hard to fault Bowerbirds for sticking with what helped them create such a great debut, stellar P-fork review and all; but the A.D.D. filled adventurous side of me would’ve like to see them try something a little different. Sure, if you’re the band you want to ride out the P-fork review, build a fan base, etc., etc., but it would’ve been cool to see them take a stab at… something, I’m not a musician, so it’s hard for me to make any sensible suggestions. That said, it’s definitely a good record, for sure, and I feel a little dickish complaining about it, but maybe it’s their fault for setting the bar so high the first time around…
[mp3]
[mp3] Bowerbirds – Bur Oak Tree (live @ Sneaky Dee’s, Toronto)
Tags: album
