I had seen Birds Make Birds at The Cantab Lounge, but that was a while ago and the lineup has been overhauled quite a bit. All four members are skilled musicians, and the chemistry is evident, with guitarist / singer Sandrine Mehry joking with bassist Ethan Dussault prior to the final song. The standout is drummer Jen Chouinard, who attacked the drums with blazing energy and kept things from getting too mopey.
Mopey? Well, the band lives in minor keys and Mehry's voice clings to the low registers, so things have a tendency to get a bit ... you know, the three-letter word that starts with "e" and ends with "o" and has "m" in the middle. Sometimes a nice mopey emo song really hits the spot, and Birds Make Birds got there on "Wishing It Was Tomorrow," with a chorus driven by the soaring guitars of Mehry and Greg Lyon and the catchy couplet "If I was waiting for a sign / I got it today."
At times things can get a bit formulaic - Afghan Whigs-style guitar riffs over power chords, Mehry's downer vocals, and the capable rhythm section of Chouinard and Dussault. It's a good formula, but some of the best moments were when they deviated a bit, such as the poppier "Jack." As Birds Make Birds progresses, it will be interesting to see if they really spread their wings.
Birds Make Birds Site
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