A nod from a hero's hero

I know it seems like I harp on about Nirvana in almost every post but I just can't help it. I'll try and vary the musical references from now on but today, it's going to be all about Nirvana. Again.

We played Shot By Both Sides, a great club night, last night at the Amersham Arms. It was great to play south of the river as the people and bands we played with were slightly more eclectic than our usual east London haunts.

In between festive merriment and whilst standing outside for a breath of fresh air, a man came up and started talking to me about how much he enjoyed the show. It later transpired that the man was Gordon Keen - member of Captain America/Eugenius and BMX Bandits, two massively underrated Scottish bands from yesteryear. As soon as he mentioned this, I got slightly excited as Kurt Cobain often spoke about his love for these bands. Captain America supported Nirvana alongside Shonen Knife on their 1991 Nevermind European Tour. How's that for a story?

Keen said that after hearing us a few songs in, he turned to his friends and said how we need to get into the studio with Steve Albini. He's top of our wish list too. The feedback we got from him was great as not only did he understand what we are doing, he also said it was great to see a band keeping the faith alive - the faith that made bands of his generation do what they did. It was very inspiring to hear these words from the hero of one of my heroes.



I also thought I should mention a bit more on Shonen Knife as Keen mentioned he thought we were Japanese when he saw us in a magazine. Just for the record...we're not Japanese! The similarities with Shonen Knife lie in the fact we're a 3 piece composed of a pair of sisters and we also love punk/surf but we're not ethnically the same! X-Bird and C-Bird are from the Philipines and I'm half Nepalese, half South Indian. Hopefully that's cleared that up for good!

D-Bird

Happy Christmas from The Birds! FREE DOWNLOADS!

Just to prove we have written the new songs we talk about (!), we'd like to give you an exclusive first listen to new Bird material. It's also free to download! The recordings are live as we go back to where we started from - home DIY recordings. All recordings were made at Neu HQ - our spiritual home and solace from the real world...

Smear

I have nothing to protect
I have nothing to protect
I have no one to reject
I have no one to reject
All those years I cried for you
To rid myself of the smears of you

So I cut away the tears
Cut away my fears
Cut away the smears
Cut away the years

I accept this fate
I accept self hate
I accept this fate
I accept self hate
Bend my knees, slice me up into my thighs
But you'll never see the wounds that I keep inside

So I cut away the tears
Cut away my fears
Cut away the smears
Cut away the years

I am no one to respect
I am no one to respect
I am someone to reject
I am someone to reject
The blood for me drains through my lies
Is it you or me that I really despise?

So I cut away the tears
Cut away my fears
Cut away the smears
Cut away the years

D-Bird lyrics, vocals and bass, C-Bird bass, X-Bird drums
smear.mp3

From Black To Blue

You cross my path and turned your back,
Watch the memories fall,
Yeah you pierced my soul.

I watch the colour drain from black to blue,
I watch the colour drain from black to blue.

Hear me now,
Come and take me out.

Hear me now,
Come take me out.

If you can, if you can...

I watch the colour drain from black to blue,
I watch the colour drain from black to blue.

C-Bird lyrics, vocals and bass, D-Bird bass, X-Bird drums
blue.mp3


Just Walk

I see you walking down my street,

I see you walking down my street.

You look like someone I wouldn't like to meet,

You look like someone I wouldn't like to meet.

I see you everywhere...

Just walk

X-Bird lyrics and vocals, C-Bird bass, D-Bird drums
justwalk.mp3

False Fright

You run me over and over again
You curse me over and over again
You cut me over and over again
You fuck me over and over again

My eyes turned white
I fell into false fright
My eyes turned white
I fell into false fright

I scrape myself to my feet again
I scrape myself to my knees again
I rape myself through my heart again
I rape myself to the start again

You told lies
You told lies
I fell into false fright
I fell into false fright

You run me over and over again
But I'll scrape myself to my feet again
You curse me over and over again
I'll scrape myself to my knees again
You cut me over and over again
I rape myself through my heart again
You fuck me over and over again
But I rape myself to the start again

Over again

D-Bird lyrics, vocals and bass, C-Bird bass, X-Bird drums
falsefright.mp3

Durrr in the New Year

We're really happy to announce we'll be playing Durrr on Monday January 5th with Pix DJs. There's only going to be 3 more Durrr's in January at its current location so do make sure you come along!

Bring on the New Year!
D-Bird

New Songs

We've spent a whole day writing today...we've written 3 new songs which we are very excited about - with each one of us singing on vocals. We've been playing 'Just Walk' with X-Bird on vocals at our last few gigs and will be airing another new one tomorrow at our gig at Old Blue Last.

This song is called 'Smear' and has me on vocals and bass, C-Bird on bass and X-Bird on drums. My lyrics below:

I have nothing to protect
I have nothing to protect

I have no one to reject
I have no one to reject

All those years I cried for you
To rid myself of the smears of you

So I cut away the tears
Cut away my fears
Cut away the smears
Cut away the years

I accept this fate
I accept self hate

I accept this fate
I accept self hate

Bend my knees, slice me up into my thighs
But you'll never see the wounds that I keep inside

So I cut away the tears
Cut away my fears
Cut away the smears
Cut away the years

I am no one to respect
I am no one to respect

I am someone to reject
I am someone to reject

The blood for me drains through my lies
Is it you or me that I really despise?

So I cut away the tears
Cut away my fears
Cut away the smears
Cut away the years

D-Bird

Currently listening to...

The Organ
A band which I really wish a) hadn't split up and b) I'd seen live. Comparisons are often made to them being the female Smiths - beautiful, haunting, poignant pop songs. They are a wonderful band who are often overlooked. Give them a listen. 'I Am Not Surprised' is one of my favourite songs from their amazing 2006, 'Grab That Gun' album.
I Am Not Surprised - The Organ


Not Cool
An amazing new project fronted by Matt Gilbert former bassist with The Violets with ex-Violets Andrew Moran on drums. Their first gig is on January 10th at Club Motherfucker. You can hear their 4 song demos here:
http://www.myspace.com/notcoolisaband

Daniel Johnston
Known for his eccentricities as well as releasing a large volume of work on cassette tape, Daniel Johnston's quirky DIY music paved the way for a lot of other US lo-fi indie bands.


Sebadoh
Dinosaur Jnr's refugee Lou Barlow fronts a remarkable lo-fi band along the vein of Pavement. His casual, no fuss vocals are extremely appealing. I first came across them when I saw their video for 'Rebound' on MTV back in the day...
Rebound - Sebadoh

PJ Harvey
PJ Harevy is an ongoing favourite...I love this live performance of 'Meet Ze Monsta' as she sounds and looks so strong and defiant.

D-Bird

The Future is Fugazi

Last week we went on tour with Selfish Cunt, one of my most favourite bands ever. I have been saying for a long time that Selfish Cunt will go down in history as being the band that influenced and inspired a million other bands to start up. They inspired me and countless other bands that have become part of the new emerging London 'scene'. As much as people try to deny it, there seems to be something in the air or people are certainly telling me there is something in the air - journalists, music industry people and music fans. The only people that seem reluctant to accept this are the actual bands that are being talked about. Why? Because all we care about is writing, rehearsing and gigging and that's really all we have time for as we are so busy doing this constantly. That's our world and what we do. We can't even afford to buy the magazines we're in, let alone sit there and have self-important discussions about who should do or say what next.

On a long, long journey from Manchester to Cardiff last week, we decided to watch a documentary on Fugazi as Heathers and No Country For Old Men weren't really cutting it. Sitting in the tour van with the SC boys and watching the documentary together was astounding.

Fugazi are a hugely influential Washington punk band who emerged after the demise of another seminal punk band of which Fugazi's Ian Mackaye used to front, Minor Threat. They are known for being an ethical, straight edge band through their lifestyles and views on keeping ticket prices low and affordable, not selling merchandise and releasing all their music through their own very successful Dischord label. However what inspired us most, was watching their full-on, passionate live performances. That band literally played their guts out each time they went on stage. They gave their audience EVERYTHING.

This reminded me of an earlier discussion we had with Martin SC about current London audiences. No one moves. Ever. The first gig I went to was seeing Belly at Newcastle Students' Union. Belly are not a wild, raucous punk band but the first thing that struck me at the gig was not their music but the Doc Marten of a mad student crowd-surfing and accidentally kicking me in the head. Moshing and other stage diving antics continued from the crowd for Belly's entire set. Even when I first went to Reading Festival, I stood at the front for every band until my toes had been stamped on 100 times and my hair was all over the place. For me, music was not just about bedroom listening but equally about getting involved in the gigs and MOVING...

I've noticed more and more in the last year that London audiences are getting more and more withdrawn....self conscious in a way. I don't understand why. Why are people afraid to let themselves go? We played a cramped, dark studio for our EP launch and the only people really moving were us. It's hard to give so much energy and passion each time just to receive claps and maybe a cheer. Come on people! Show yourselves! Throw yourself into music if that's what you love. Why bother going to gigs if you're just going to stand at the back and keep a look-out for when the toilet queue is quiet?!

I don't know...these days are never going to come back again and I just wish people would do what they want to and not be so damn aware of what they look like or what people are going to think. That attitude is just so uninspiring.

Before you head out to a gig to watch or perform just think of the video below and utter 'Fugazi' and hopefully that'll put a spring in your step....

D-Bird