Them Bird Things – Wildlike Wonder

If you did not have the chance to travel this summer, or if you want to reach further destinations, you might want to spin Them Bird Things’ new album and let yourself be transported to distant places in space and in time. Wildlike Wonder is the band’s second installment recreating the music of unsung sixties heroes Mike Brassard and Steven Blodgett.
The decades worth of material that both songwriters have accumulated allow Them Birth Things to have an endless pool of well crafted songs, deep in meaning and form. The lyrics wander through distance places in North America, from Idaho to Nantasket, as the characters of the songs look at past relationships, ponder suicide, face solitude or just run away like in a murder ballad. It is top class storytelling.

Musically, the album is also a trip through different musical sounds and while the base might be best described as acoustic “americana”, there are also echoes of Eastern textures and psychedelia, thanks a to unexpected tunings and a fuzz driven lap steel. However, do not get fooled by the word acoustic because despite the gentle start and the lack of electric guitars, there is a lot of rock and roll on the album with the songs getting as loud as they can get. Songs like Silver Oldsmobile, Birmingham and Georgia Mountain are absolute rockers, that complement the quieter moments like the Jake Holme’s unreleased song Marionette and ballads like Marie and White Lipstick.

Wildlike Wonder is one step ahead for the band. While the first album was an excellent collection of 45 rpm singles, this new album is coherent, with a clear theme and a sound rich in detail that guarantees many future listen in the coming months. But it is Salla Day’s vocals what completes the magic of the songs. She has grown up as a singer to find her own voice and offer a timeless performance.

It is a joy that twelve months after their debut, Them Bird Things come back with another best-of-the-year set of songs. Of course, having at their service five decades of songwriting is such a blessing. After many days and nights, their repertoire has found the perfect channel to surface and live on.