Bird and the Bee - Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future

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Bird and the Bee - Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future

Thursday, February 05, 2009

What I'd like to know is what ray guns are. I know what they're not, but what are they? Guns made out of rays? Something Romano uses to silence dastardly foes? The past? Maybe someday I'll find some answers, but for now, less reading between the lines.

Reviewer
Ben
Categories
Music

Reviewed by Ben Cordes

The Bird and the Bee - Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future

Watch for the explosive epicness from 2:50 on out, and Patchy's hilarious reaction.

The Bird and the Bee could've marched straight out of left field and I would've been less surprised by their whimsical tunes. Instead, they come from Los Angeles, which is David Cross's favorite place to be. Oh, the crazies! But oh, as well, the talent; The Bird and the Bee overtook any success seen from their previous albums with 2009's Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future. It's basically the indie/alternative answer to Boston's Boston. You think track 2 is your favorite, until you hear track 3, at which point you realize track 3 is just as good, if not better. The album starts on a high note and rarely dips below top notch quality throughout. The greatest part about The Bird and the Bee's consistently good music is its partnership with constantly differentiating style.

Fanfare is an aptly named opening for the band's series of hits to follow. It literally rolls you right into My Love, which shifts fluidly into Diamond Dave, and so on and so forth until Phil - another cleverly selected title. The warm and inviting sounds produced by The Bird and the Bee are perfectly complimented by lead singer Inara's serene tones. I'd like to say that she's the band's most powerful instrument, but they use so many... How could I pick just one? It's almost like watching an episode of any multi-layered TV show - every time you listen, you pick up on something you didn't notice the first time. That's called ingenuity. Or it's called layering instruments, but I'm a stranger to semantics. And digression.

My Love and Diamond Dave are two upbeat tracks that will surely have your toes tapping, if not your whole self dancing about the room. The sedentary drums contrast fantastically with disorganized piano and string instrument fun, all of which is topped delicately with soothing vocal harmonies. This upbeat romp is followed by a more melancholy endeavor, What's In The Middle, as things wind down in preparation for Ray Gun. The first slow track on the album is also The Bird and the Bee's longest, and you won't catch me complaining. You might catch me doing other things, but certainly not complaining. Writing a review? Sure. Being nude? My specialty. Making a sandwich? Of course. Straying off topic and/or complaining? Please, don't insult me.

As Ray Gun fades out, we're greeted enthusiastically by the brutally fun Love Letter To Japan. Instruments can only take a song so far before the vocal melodies are left to lighten the load. With more weighty music, that's something The Bird and the Bee excel at doing. I could see Love Letter standing its own ground with vocals alone, but we're already halfway through Meteor - a song that truly does soar through versus and choruses. Like most tracks on Ray Guns, Meteor promotes fantastic visual imagery, and really feels floaty and airless, before blending in with Baby. The second slow down isn't as inspired as the first, but that level of quality is still there. Things move along quickly from here, landing briefly on Phil and booming straight into Polite Dance Song, the single most intriguingly bad ass tune I've heard over four-jillion times.

The last four songs certainly seem to capitalize on the awkward mood set by Polite Dance Song, straying further from pop and keeping up with a sullen yet somehow dulcet tone set by You're A Cad. Witch is to follow, which gets me confused. Which witch is which, again? With which witch would I side with? Witch, probably. Oddly, the only adjectives I can conjure up to describe this tune is sandy. Take from that what you will, and let's move on to Birthday - a celebration, indeed. Birthday is the party before parting, and it's a bit more enjoyable than the final track, Lifespan of a Fly. Lifespan is the polar opposite of the CDs opener - slow and confused as opposed to loud and decisive. Lyrically, it's a fine piece of work, and I'll easily remember it, considering its lyrics dictated that I do so. Nothing wrong with following orders so long as you can make some sense of them, and I imagine the lifespan of this memorable ensemble will outlast that of most flies. Especially the ones unfortunate enough to end up in my bedroom.

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