Singles

Tweak Bird - A Sun/Ahh Ahh

TC 18/06/2010

Rating: 3/5

Throwback brothers Caleb and Achton Bird who've gotten themselves tweaked here! It's a limited edition 7” vinyl release we are told, although my copy arrived on a new fangled medium called a CD (it won't catch on). This is the debut single from the Illinois brothers, with an album up for release in August.

Essentially, what you get here is some earthy blues rock, peppered up with more progressive sections and early Led Zeppelin comes immediately to mind. The sound is purposely given a dated wrap to it, with some muffled production that you can't help feel does it a disservice to a certain extent. There is clear indication of ability though and some thoughtful saxophone interventions that ease the song away from its blues roots, avoiding it sinking in its own morass. The song is backed up by “Stampaedo”, which is a whole lot more jumpy and commercial and may have been a better choice as the top side. It's got that same earthly blues vibe to it and, this time, is lifted by some solicitous fluting.

There isn't an abundance of this type of music around, outside of Jack White's numerous ventures, with The Black Keys being the most notable contemporaries. Whether that represents an opportunity or is an indicator of supply and demand remains to be seen. So there certainly isn't enough here to gain commercial success but one assumes its objective is to raise anticipation for the album, which ought to be something worthy of attention.

Release date: 07/06/2010

OSL with Tweak Bird from Mattwins on Vimeo.