Blues

Encore: Them Bird Things

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Encore #2 - Them Bird Things

The second issue of Encore is now available and it is dedicated to one of my favourite Finnish bands, Them Bird Things. After three albums, they continue being a superb blending of blues, country and folk and recording timeless songs. A truly unique band. Probably no other band in Finland does anything similar. In this interview, singer Salla Day tells you some of the secrets behind the band’s latest full length, Pachyderm Nightmares.

Encore #2 also features contributions by producer Will Shade, who highlights the value of a good lyric, and Peter Krogholm from All Scandinavian.

You can read this issue online or download it.

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Them Bird Things – Pachyderm Nightmares (album)

Them Bird Things – Pachyderm Nightmares (album)

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Do pachyderms have nightmares? Maybe they do. But not even in their worst dreams, any of them would think of being sentenced to death by hanging from a railroad crane. This is what happened to an elephant named Mary in the town of Erwin, Tennessee in 1916, and this bizarre story serves as inspiration for the title track of the new album by Them Bird Things, called Pachyderm Nightmares.

Pachyderm Nightmares is also the opening song and sets the mood for an album of death and sorrow, but also darkly humorous. This is an album that talks about mass murdering, lung transplants, sexual abuse and the death of bluesman Robert Johnson.

This album is the natural evolution for the band. With twelve new original compositions, the album leaves behind the songbook of 60s heroes Steve Blodgett and Mike Brassard With this album and it fully embraces the folk, country and blues sounds already explored on the band’s second album, Wildlike Wonder. There are many intimate moments, where the instrumentation is scarce and mainly acoustic, but there are also upbeat rocking tunes. It is the duality, tears and laughs, acoustic and electric, what marks the theme of the album.

Once again the songs are carefully crafted. Every lyric has a story and every note is placed in the right moment. Even though, the traditional American sounds are at the heart of Them Bird Things music, the arrangements are original and fresh, hinting hiphop beats or just going wild with Irish rhythms. And on top of that, singer Salla Day delivers another astonishing performance. She may whisper the lyrics or she may sing them with punk ferocity, but her voice remains unique, educated in honky tonks and blues joints.

For those who know the band, this third release by Them Bird Things might not be as surprising as the previous ones, but it is another keeper. The band has fully evolved, finding its sound, style and songs. We can only hope that a follow-up to Pachyderm Nightmares will come soon.

Them Bird Things – Pachyderm Nightmare

Them Bird Things – Pachyderm Nightmare

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Last August Them Bird Things offered the first taste of their new album and they discovered who killed Robert Johnson. Now the band has a new single and it features multi-instrumentalist Arttu Tolonen on an old National Duolian guitar. It seems that the renewed Them Bird Things are evoking the Mississippi Delta spirits and their third full-length, scheduled for early January, will be a full psych-blues affair.

Apart of Tolonen’s old blues licks, the album’s title track Pachyderm Nightmare features a surprising modern beat, rounded with Salla Day’s psychedelic vocal performance. AFter two best-of-year releases, Them Bird Things keep on keep on exploring and reinventing traditional American music.

Them Bird Things – I Know Who Killed Robert Johnson

Them Bird Things – I Know Who Killed Robert Johnson

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The life and death of bluesman Robert Johnson is one of the major myths in American music. Not only he sold his soul to the devil, but he was (allegedly) poisoned to death at the age of 27. At the time, the death of a black musician did not deserve to be investigated and therefore the possible murdered was never found.

Almost 75 years later, Finnish band Them Bird Things has solved the mystery. Singer Salla Day claims I know who killed Robert Johnson when singing the band’s latest release, a stomping acoustic blues number with barrelhouse piano and washboard.

I Know Who Killed Robert Johnson is included in the band’s forthcoming third album Pachyderm Nightmares, which will be out this autumn.