Judging by appearance, Two Wounded Birds are pretty in your face about their influences. Usually dressed in black and vintage leather motorcycle jackets etched with ‘rockabilly’, hair dyed raven and peroxide blonde, they not only have a gang look but possess a gang mentality – taking their rock ‘n’ roll very seriously. Hailing from Margate, and seemingly via NYC circa 1950 with a brief sojourn in the Big Rotten Apple of the 70s, they’d seem best placed in an old seaside pub, like something out of a kitchen sink drama. You can imagine the leader Johnny Danger strolling up to the jukebox, dropping in a couple of coins, and with a press of those luminescent buttons a few 45s spin into action from the all time authentic cats who blazed the trail of early rock and opened the doors for punk and indie alternative. Two Wounded Birds’ collected minds explode, and sitting back, staring out to the glistening sea, the band dream up their distinctive collection of raw punk n roll pop strange majesty.
Opener ‘Together Forever’ is a raucous ramalama smash played with ferocity. Zombies-esque surfy guitar flies above snarling drums and bass, and gut wrenching, world weary dulcet tones. In ‘My Lonesome’, Danger and his pack deliver heartache on a plate. This song embodies Two Wounded Birds. It’s a bit twisted as he proclaims his state of agonising with vocals that are like a warm blanket. The guitars reach sun spangled heights as the mighty bass and drums roll on, and in the midst, low-fi Doorsy organ closes the song. Strangeness lurks behind, while ahead, ‘To Be Young’ delivers the sound of being high and ‘hopeless’ in a hopeful way. This is an indie pop classic that achieves the bittersweetness of inexperienced living. This band is not afraid of just simply creating and delivering pop glory unapologetically.
In ‘Daddy’s Junk’, proto-punk Jerry Lee Lewis has taken over their headspace. Keys thrash along with a smattering of Ramones-like nostalgia in the guitars, pounding drums, and howling vocal effects. Pure visceral energy. The nostalgia continues in ‘Night Patrol’. It’s a headlong dive exuding Shadows like swagger mixed with an air of the serene – like a sombre lullaby, but it’s inspirational in its twangy lurch, with a star gazed twinkly tinge. If Phil Spector wasn’t banged up, he’d be banging at their door to produce the next album. And the imprint of recording mavericks doesn’t stop there, because ‘The Last Supper’ is a surfy guitar wailing instrumental that sounds like it’s risen out of the embers of Joe Meek’s lost tapes.
On and on and the hits keep coming. ‘I’m No Saviour’ plays with your heart strings as you are smothered with Danger’s cosmos-reaching voice, the delicate touch on the guitars, and tinkling on the keys, but all the time he’s singing some disparaging things. It’s dreamy, sailing, while deep and raw. Up next, the current single ‘If Only We Remain’ is where the band show off how to make sincere music that combines the best of rock and pop. The contrast of angst and exhilaration, the highs and lows, are played to us in this beauty of a track, while Danger charmingly begs ...’don’t change’.
Anthemic indie track ‘Growing’ is the final song, but it’s also a beginning - it leaves the door open for the next album. As a wave of hazy guitars and an undertow of bass and drums take you away, that voice calls out one final time with a message of intensity and immediacy. The short trip through pockets of mysterious time and experience has ended, on this record, but the voyage has just begun. Two Wounded Birds have wild hearts and strange pop sounds – and a brilliant debut album to cherish.
Two Wounded Birds - Two Wounded Birds
Out of 10: 9/10
Written by - Libby Moné
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