Robots Fighting Robots Fighting BIRDS of SPRAY - BIRDS of SPRAY

BIRDS of SPRAY

Robots Fighting Robots Fighting Birds of Spray
self-released; 2014

3.8 out of 5

By Eva Cantillo

Ok. If the name hasn’t painted a picture for you already, prepare to hear some flamboyant and recklessly awesome rock by Birds of Spray on their album entitled Robots Fighting Robots Fighting Birds of Spray. “Robot army, assemble!” cries the front man to introduce their opening and more or less aptly named single, “Robots Fighting Robots Fighting Robots.” Is it redundancy or just a strange scene? 

Birds Of Spray aren’t shy about their attention grabbing look and titling. Their Bandcamp cover photo is a lovely image of a bird just shooting excrement in a pretty uniform fashion. I digress, the music is provoking and edgy, but nothing that will leave a bad taste in anyone’s mouth. It plays like rambunctious punk reshaped into a more alternative breed and then someone throws a harmonica in and minds hit the floor.

Lyrically, the songs challenge social norms and have fun with bandwagon concepts of domestic events. The vocalist has many different shades to his musical approach throughout the album. Sometimes he’s practically barking while other times he’s adopting a Disturbed-like jungle call. By default, the man carries a harsh and yet comical tone that barely passes for singing. He sways between shrieking and cursing strings of accusatory monologue like a Jekyll and Hyde character but heavy on the Hyde. He commands attention and incites laughter, at least with me. The album’s concept is so lost in a fictional world of chaos that you can’t help but be tickled at the intensity that they spill forth in spite of their giant joke.

To take the album apart would be pointless as most of the songs just blur into the next one - just another tapestry of madness, yelling, cursing and classic story telling, the kind of stories that belong in hilarious sci-fi novels. “Wife Beaters” has a name any one woman would love. This track stuck out for me just because it’s too funny. 

In this sense, they act like disgruntled Blink-182 posers. “You’re gonna die young cause you hurt a lot of people.” A nice message for all those wife beaters out there, right? Personally, I think the song should have been called “Robot Beaters.”