Emily's Albums A to Z

Listened: Wednesday July 14

Unlike a lot of albums that are coming up, I was not looking forward to reviewing Babybird’s Greatest Hits. This is another album I bought very cheaply (it may have even been free) because it’s a relatively obscure British band I had heard of at some point or another. But I’ve never been able to get past the first song, which starts out normal-sounding enough, but soon you hear “Fuck you, Father Christmas”. Which intrigued me, but it wasn’t a sentiment I could ever seem to get behind enough to continue listening to the rest of the songs.

The rest of the early songs are hit and miss. They sound purposely “difficult” which usually is irritating, since it’s too self-conscious and immature a pose to affect well. The sound could be described as Badly Drawn Boy or Super Furry Animals with a confrontational, darker, dirtier edge. I had to do a lot of research before I could come up with an appropriate comparison – they didn’t make it easy for me.

Then, all of a sudden, the clouds part and the last 5 songs on the album creep out – catchy, relaxed, pure Britpop songs with 60s and electronic flavors. Sha Na Na and Aluminum Beach are particularly good. Maybe they grew up a bit after a couple of albums.