Night Birds

Night Birds [7-inch] (2010)
Grave Mistake / Dirtnap

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Contributed by: Brian
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on January 14th 2011

Night Birds' self-titled 7" from last year is quick and dirty. The band's got ex-members of the Ergs! and Hunchback, and that requisite experience contributes to a rockin', '80s hardcore-tinged pop-punk record that sounds like early Descendents if they were way speedier and their guitar work was informed more by surf rock and '50s rock (is that redundant?).

Only two of the five tracks here exceed two minutes, and that makes sense—the band is playing way too fast and recklessly to have the sort of stamina that would elicit a three-minute song. Opener "Prognosis: Negative" is the longest and most "expansive" here, and it might be the standout as a result.

The EP gets faster as it goes along, culminating with middle track "Unanswerable", which is pretty much a straight-up '80s hardcore jam. Then they get a little slower again until instrumental "Harbor Rats", endcapping the EP it as a punky, breezy takeout.

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Night Birds EP

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

passiononplastic (June 7, 2011)

Right on.

http://PunkFullDownload.com

surfanddestroylbi (January 17, 2011)

Mike's description is spot on and I agree with everyone that this record deserved a better-written review. A note that they are influenced by the Descendents would have been more appropriate as I've seen them cover "Myage" (but then again, what modern-day punk band with good taste isn't). As a surfer from NJ I may be biased, but Night Birds are quickly becoming my favorite band of all time. Yes, I said all time.

awesomesnacks (January 17, 2011)

Shitty review. Know something about the genre first, at least. Too fast? Best live show going right now.

mikeriley (January 17, 2011)

That is a very half-assed review. The sound is more Agent Orange meets the Adolescents than it is Descendents. Great fast melodic hardcore/punk with surfy riffage with snotty (but not silly) vocals. Every song on here is a gem. Definitely better than the demo. Nothing pop-punk about it. Night Birds are one of the best punk bands going these days. Wait 'til you hear the Midnight Movies 7". Their best stuff yet for sure.

zoro (January 14, 2011)

This album rules......

Half_Idiot (January 14, 2011)

Ah, it's been awhile since I've been able to say it but MattRamone has no idea what he's talking about. It's been awhile since I've been able to say that, it's taking me back.

This is the best of the post-Ergs! bands by a long shot. I'm real excited to hear the new 7" No Way's putting out in a few weeks.

Make_Way (January 14, 2011)

This band, along with this release, is just plain awesome.

mattramone (January 14, 2011)

Other than Deep Sleep, this is probably the best band in hardcore.

Review sucks ass, write about the music dude.

hobbzoid (January 14, 2011)

i give this many more stars than the review. It is a great EP.

Carlo_cabinetti (January 14, 2011)

What a comment...did this review break into your house on Christmas day and piss on your kids or something?

americanriot (January 14, 2011)

what the hell kind of review is that? how are they a pop punk band? you wrote more about the actual song lengths than you did about the music. atleast the 3 stars makes sense because you don't seem to have any opinion on the release. everyone needs to stop comparing the ergs and related bands to the descendents too. the only band that should come close to getting that comparison is ALL. what a waste of time.

by the way the 7 inch is good, but the demo is better.