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Review: Bowerbirds
How to judge a band like Raleigh, N.C.’s Bowerbirds, where oodles of talent and creative ambition lead to songs that too often manage to get in their own way.
Taking the stage at Emo’s Jr. on Wednesday afternoon it was apparent by looking at the instruments littering the stage — dulcimer, accordion, violin, bass drum played with concert batons along with a guitar — that the trio’s take on indie pop was going to be anything but traditional.
Let’s start with the good, because there’s a lot of it: Whether sung by guitarist Phil Moore or multi-instrumentalist Beth Tacular (or especially both harmonizing wonderfully) the band’s detailed and rich lyrics — about retiring with a love and eating crab and krill on “Slow Down” or “we’re only human, this at least we’re learning” on “You Are Free” — grab attention right away and don’t let go. And for using so many outre instruments, there was never a gimmicky moment to be had where the band could be accused of saying, “Look at us, aren’t we cute?”
So the hangup? With all that talent running in so many directions it seemed like too many songs were circling around killer melodies and hooks (think Ladybug Transistor’s better moments) but never grabbing onto them and holding for dear life.
Get that down, and this band is heading somewhere. But as of now, pleasant and promising are the most accurate adjectives the Bowerbirds get.
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