Sometimes I receive a great CD by a group, give it a great review and then hear nothing more from them. Usually this means the band has split up for whatever reason. I feared that a similar fate had befallen BirdPen whose excellent EP ‘Fake Kid’ whetted my appetite for something more in 2005, an album perhaps? Well, the album isn’t quite ready just yet but ‘Breaking Precedent E.P.’ is a taster of what’s to come. Furthermore, just as I remembered them, BirdPen still craft urgent, hook-heavy songs which follow an alternative path of their own making.
In the first track alone, BirdpPen unveil a new set of hooks; the slightly off-kilter nature to ‘Breaking Precedent’ reminding me of Dawn Of The Replicants at their peak. ‘Machines Live Like Ordinary People’ is easily the most in your face song here; its shouted chorus repeated in most convincing fashion. The melancholic ‘Man The Thinker’ is dominated by a rolling piano melody whilst ‘Implode And Fold’, the slowest and most considered song off the EP reveals the reflective side to the trio, not to mention some vocals which rival My Morning Jacket’s Jim James for emotion and clarity.
‘Breaking Precedent’ is a well produced, dynamic and genuinely exciting set of songs from the kind of idiosyncratic band which only Britain could produce. Since the album is due for release in October too, that’s another reason to celebrate.
Web Sites:
BirdPen Official Site
BirdPen MySpace
Further Listening:
Dawn Of The Replicants, My Morning Jacket
Leonard's Lair Music Reviews 
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