Toxic Pop (2012)
I have been waiting for this record to come out for such a long time. Sick Sick Birds' 2009 release Heavy Manners was my absolute favorite record of that year. I feel like I've been counting down the days for this one, plus the fact that my record took a bizarre detour to Tennessee thanks to the post office only built my anticipation even more. The end result? I'm not totally sure, to be honest.
I'm sure a lot of what I write is going to be interpreted as me not liking this record, and that's simply not true. I love these songs. They build in such clever ways, catchy in the right parts, yearning in other parts and everything gets a bit quiet at just the right moments. It's a beautifully written album. My issue comes down to the recording. I'm just not thrilled with how the final product sounds.
The thing that gets me is the vocals. And while I don't like the slight distorted effect that is present on a handful of songs, that's not a deal breaker for me (I think the number of Marked Men records I own will back up this claim). I think what I don't like is how loud the vocals are in the mix. They just seem so much louder than everything else. They don't blend into the music, it seems like a lot of times the vocals simply overpower the music. I'm not sure if it was a recording issue or a mixing issue, but I vastly prefer the way Heavy Manners sounded, production wise.
Don't think that means this record isn't worth picking up, it is a really, really good record. I just think with a little knob fiddling, it could have been perfect.
Sick Sick Birds - Gates of Home (Via BandCamp):
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