Singles

Two Wounded Birds - Keep Dreaming Baby EP

Harry Milburn 15/12/2010

Rating: 4/5

Surf rock's been so 2010; and now it's December you could be forgiven for feeling a little like the mama in 'Let's Go Surfing'. Christ, that poor thing must be even more tired than we are of hearing her son say he 'don't care about nothing' every time she sets foot in Topshop. No doubt she too is just waiting for this whole 60s surf-rock renaissance thing to blow over; so we can all move on with our lives.

But I've got news for you mama, and it ain't good. Because even now all the leaves are brown and the sky is grey, it seems bands everywhere remain hell-bent on embracing that Californian Beach Boysy sound like it's going out of fashion.


Which plainly it's not. Two Wounded Birds are one more band pulling on mama's flowery summer dress wanting to go surfing; though they should emphatically not be dismissed as just-another-surf-rock-band who know how to get stoned and use a bit of reverb. Californian dreamin' they might be, but this- their début 5 track offering- shows them to be carrying the surf rock baton into 2011 with so much more to offer than many of those that ran the previous legs.


In fact this isn't really about sunny beaches and boards at all- though the up-tempo 'Keep Dreaming Baby' and 'Summer Dream' are catchy enough. Rather, like a day out in Margate, this EP contains only fleeting moments of sunshine- the rest of the record is that looming rain cloud that just won't go away. The melancholic 'My Lonesome', the Tarantinosoundtrackish 'Night Patrol' and the menacingly titled 'I'll Come And Get You' showcase a young band with a genuinely exciting sound; whilst simultaneously putting the 'Wounded' in 'Two Wounded Birds'. The former, 'My Lonesome', is worthy of an extra special mention just for its outstanding organ outro alone. You really have to hear it.


Well might, then, all the world and Margate be producing surf rock bands. But even on such a winter's day as today, it's clear enough to see there haven't been very many as exciting as this lot.