Demos

Birdeatsbaby - Bigger Teeth

Owain Paciuszko 25/11/2010

Rating: 4/5

Opening with the gypsy-punk flavoured storytelling of The Devil So Charming, largely driven by the vocals of Mishkin Fitzgerald, Keely McDonald and Ella Stirmey accompanied by Garry Mitchell's guitar until the inevitable, but nonetheless entertaining explosive accompaniment of piano, drums and violin. There's a Dresden Dolls-like flavour to The Replacement, especially on its ratatat chorus of 'Say it, say it, say it because it's over.' Elsewhere Birdeatsbaby use their multiple vocalists with skill, coming up with smart and wryly humourous arrangements.

This Brighton quartet keep their tunes consistently inventive, their compositons punctuated with a certain arch theatricality that's perfectly befitting their kind of anti-folk, classical-punk vibe, and this is ably demonstrated on the clattering, stop-start and sinister tones of Enemies Like Me, drawing to an eerily seductive finale with the cooed, rising cries of 'Why don't you beg?' Meanwhile the opening of Gone begins by sounding like the theme music to Murder She Wrote, before turning into a witty, sultry cabaret style number with lyrics punctuating bitter jibes like a strange union between playful popsters Kate Goes and the darker edge of Rasputina.

This EP closes with the melancholy sound of Rosary, with a deliciously heartfelt delivery of its mournful and poignant lyrics over aching violin and sad but defiant piano, akin to Ben Folds at his most touching. It's a nice finale to this record which manages to show many facets of this entertaining, energetic band suggesting both a formidable live experience and a wealth of invention waiting to be mined on future recordings.