Rare Birds
Rare Birds
Track List Band Members
1- Wire Brandon Neal- Vocals/Guitar
2- Days Over Shawn Thacker- Drums/Percussion
3- Gold Plated People Joe Abramson- Bass/Vocals
4- Don’t Know Better Andrew Cylar- Guitar
5- Evergreen
Produced By: Band Website:
Rare Birds https://www.facebook.com/RareBirdsATL/
The band are from Atlanta, Georgia and you will definitely find that southern rock influence and vintage British rock sound through the EP. This band is about the music. You can tell by the simplicity of the album cover which was designed by Eryn March. I think it tells you all you need to know. March really nailed it in my opinion. Marty Kearns guests on the record and plays the keyboards and the piano through the record and he really does a great job filling out the sound for it. Jeff Senker plays bass on Gold Plated People. Jeff Tomei has worked with Ray Charles, Smashing Pumpkins, Corrosion Of Conformity, and Warren Haynes to name a few. mixed and engineered the EP. Keith Evans recorded and engineered all of Marty Kearns parts and most of Shawn Thacker’s drums. Now that we got all the background out of the way, onto the music.
Wire is the opening track and definitely sets the tone for EP. It’s hard to believe that a song like this is new because it sounds like it’s been around since the early seventies and that says something. If Blues is your thing then you won’t be disappointed with this one. Brandon Neal kills the vocals on this one. I love when sings the line;
”I’m a warm body, baby use me to your end”
Something about that just makes it pure gold. The riffs are melodic and keep your attention. There is a nice jam section in the middle of the song that’s refreshing to hear. Andrew Cylar’s guitar work and solo really carry the song all the way through. How I miss songs like this. It’s quickly becoming one of my favorites.
Considering that this is a five sing EP, I’ll skip over the second track Day’s Over for you to discover as part of my tradition of discovering some songs on your own without my influence. In this case you get this one only as it is an EP.
The mid track or the third track of the EP is Gold Plated People. This is the song that introduced me to the band. Because of that it’s my favorite. It brought me back in time and I was ecstatic that something this good was out there in this style. I think Marty Kearns piano playing did me in. Thacker’s congas with piano is what I call magical. I seriously thought no one would do this blues infused soul type of music. Did you? I have to admit when I first heard it I thought Joe Cocker was going to start singing. I’m sure if he was alive he would want to record it. It’s that good.
Don’t Know Better is the fourth tune on the record. When you first hear it, it makes you think you want to dance when the drums come in. But I think this will be a great song live because you can get the audience behind it and have fun with it. But the real heroes of this song are Shawn Thacker’s drums and Joe Abramson’s bass playing. Thackers driving beat and change ups with his fills just really make this song stand out. It’s what keeps me glued to the track. I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you to really listen to Abramson’s bass lines in this one. They are outstanding, one listen and I think you would agree.
This brings us to the closing of the album with Evergreen. This is just as nostalgic as it gets, pick your influence, it’s here. Lyrically, this is one that really has some powerful content. There are so many in this one, it’s hard not to write about all of them but I thought the following line was really well put;
“Leaves and people change”
That right there is deep and what a message it sends. You’ll have to hear it in the context of the song but just wow. The whole band shines on this one but the way Neal delivers the words and the passion he brings to the vocal is well just eargasmic. This should definitely be added to your playlist. Better yet this should be on the radio. I can’t do this closer any more justice, you have to listen to it and it will sell itself.
I am going to admit that I have been hooked on this EP since I got it. Been listening to it whenever I can. This is true comfort food for the music soul. It’s a throwback and yet new. Atlanta, Georgia has just found their next big thing. Follow them on social media and truly check them out. These guys are seasoned and it shows. You can’t do much better than this in this type of music. I’ll get off my soap box, now. Just do yourself a favor and give the record a listen.
Songs to check out are Wire, Gold Plated People and Evergreen.
Check out their song Gold Plated People below.
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