Birds With Arms are from Seattle. In their own words, it’s “anime intros to stage dive to”, and that description is brilliant.
There is a lot of that intensity one can hear in anime intro songs, with intricate arrangements and complex structures, as well as riffs and parts.
I had a very psychedelic experience as soon as I hit play because it sounded so much like Rush, and not only do I adore Rush, but I’ve never heard anyone come even close to playing like that because, let’s face it, it’s quite the bet!
The bass sound and bass lines, as well as the arrangement of the song and even the vocals, reminded me so much of the lads from Canada. I know maybe this band will lead this and go, “Huh, what is he talking about”? but you know how we can all hear things that may or may not be there when it comes to our favourite bands. Having shared that, I will generalise it more and say that there are definitely a lot of prog vibes here, but with some extra craziness.
Literally, the ep lets you breathe a little bit only when ‘Fireworks’ kicks in, and to be perfectly clear, I am not complaining at all; I embrace the intensity and the fact that it demands my attention. I could definitely stage dive to this, and very happily also headband to this.
Let me just give some extra praise to the vocalist here, who has RANGE, like, real range! Both in terms of register as well as expression, and all that while also playing an instrument. Enormous respect for that. And to be fair for the record, this is a band that consists of some very talented musicians and the music flows like water.
Written by Spiros Maus
