The Firebird Band - The Seting Sun and It's Satellites - Cargo Music

Review by: Jennifer Perkins

Kids dressed in all black singing over heavy bass lines about a girl that's so beautiful; this is the Firebird Band, and it's damn good. One of my favorite records as of late, and typically I am a pop music person. I am not sure what I was expecting from this record, but either way I wasn't expecting what I got. It's different from most other things out there today, or at least what I'm listening to. I could listen to songs like "Kiss Yourself" with it's high pitched key boards and slogans like "You bring the wine and we'll have a good time" endlessly. The Firebird band has been making the mixed tape circuit in my neck of the woods, and that's always a compliment.

The CD starts out moody with the title track, but by the second song, "Nothing Not a Dance Party" I am ready to do as the name implies and get up and get jiggy with it. Serious toe-tappin' go down here. I know at this point I am gonna dig this chili and I only like the CD better the longer it plays, right up to the primitive sounding hidden bonus track at the end I am smitten with The Setting Sun and It's Satellites.

I can't help it, I always compare bands to other bands and look for segways and reference points. I do it in my writing and I prefer it in the reviews I read about bands. The main reference point here for me was The Cure. It was not blatantly obvious to me at first, subtle and then when during the middle of "Forever" when these random piano noises started chiming in I thought of The Cure song "Caterpillar", and then from there the influence became a little more prevalent. After this I started to notice little things like the lyrics "kiss me, kiss me, kiss me". Then I thought of PJ Harvey. I can't remember if I came up with this comparison before or after I realized they quoted "Rid of Me" on one of the songs. The deep To Bring You My Love era bass lines, hinted at it as well. Either way after it occurred to me I can hear the likeness.

The Firebird Band is an entity all their own. Yes there are these comparisons, but really at the same time they don't sound like either of those bands. The band contains members of Braid and Joan of Arc, I can hear the Joan of Arc much more than the Braid. Keyboards are more prevelent than distortion driven guitars. Christopher Broach must have musically stood out like a soar thumb in the Braid music making machine if this was the sound he was into all along. Go little thumb go, because me likey likey.

Read an interview with the Firebird Band here.

Read a review of The Firebird Band's EP The Drive here.