Serial Bowl Records
SBR008
I hadn’t heard or indeed heard of Pre-Birds until I got this CD sent for review. Looking on the Bandcamp site, they hail from Nottingham and are a blend of post/hardcore punk. So far so good, then…
Sticking the CD in, the screaming starts and you’re instantly cajoled into Pre-Birds’ world of late 80s / early 90s fusion, hitting you metaphorically around the head with four ditties.
There are echoes of Black Flag and a Fugazi in the mix and an added dash of early Faith No More (without keyboards, though) perhaps too, which is really rather pleasant to my ears. Perhaps “pleasant” doesn’t really describe the songs accurately however – this is no genteel music. This is a collection of angry anthems, delivered with bass groove that is very catchy indeed.
The opener “Bogus Returns” is a great stomper of a track, followed by “Repetitive Motions” a heavy bombardment of groovy “Mine’s An Eagle” brings the pace and anger down in a sort of Sub Pop way, wiht vocals weirdly reminding me of the Revenge-era Paul Stanley on the chorus and the last quarter of the song actually wouldn’t be amiss on that album. This is not a bad thing at all. Credit where credit’s due – the whole outfit are tighter than two coats of paint and the almost industrial repetitiveness of the rhythm grabs you and just doesn’t let go. The closer “Half Full/Half Empty” is punchy and is a fitting end to a marvellous EP, even with its drawn out coda of instrumental ‘switching off’.
Looking forward to hearing their split EP with Ballpeen – but for now, get this EP while you can – you’ll not be disappointed!
Get it here: https://serialbowlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/pre-birds-e-p-1-2
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