Since 2008’s debut release, These Sins, and the media hype-orgy that entailed, An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump have kept relatively quiet. Mostly playing abroad, giving time to other projects and having very little to do with the press, the self-proclaimed minimalists have been biding their time.
It is with great pleasure that Construction House can reveal that the art-grunge trio’s sophomore release, the Buy A Life EP has arrived, and in such style too.
The record puts the pedal to the metal with ‘Smear’; AEOABITAP’s trademark bass string scratching feedback serves as the overture, the deep rumble of X-Bird’s drums further accelerating the track and impacting like a kick to the guts. D-Bird takes the lead vocal for this one and it’s immensely pleasing to see that her strength as a singer has increased tenfold, when before her understated performances often struggled to match the weight of the bass-heavy, distorted clatter.
Taking a leaf from the Nirvana ‘quiet-loud-quiet’ school of thought comes ‘Silent Hour’, beginning with a seductive and melodic bass line, accompanied by a sparse yet effective use of a single floor tom and the introduction of X-Bird’s sultry vocal work. The track suddenly roars to life, X-Bird’s delivery remaining calm above the storm of high octane guitar-noise. Ending on a frenzied note, the Birds reprise an oldie in ‘Only In Death’, C-Bird’s yelping vocals heavily distorted in a nod to the way in which the track was originally recorded with inexpensive equipment.
An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump have proved with their latest release that they are nothing if not forward thinking, and that what some derided as a format that would quickly tire has endured and evolved into something even more exciting than before.
Get the point, and don’t try to buy a life – but most certainly buy this.
Monday 19 October 2009
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