Streams: Listen to the new LP by Avem and read a track-by-track breakdown!

Today we are stoked to bring you the premiere of the new album by Southern Ontario bird aficionados and pop-punkers Avem! The album is called Three Birds Stoned and will be available everywhere on August 26 via Mom's Basement Records. We caught up with the band who provided a track-by-track breakdown of the album. Listen to Three Birds Stoned and read the breakdown below!

Three Birds Stoned Track-By-Track Breakdown

“AVEM” - Birds of prey are raptors known to primarily hunt and feed on vertebrates. While many hunt and feed on live animals, others feed on carrion. Unlike non-predatory birds, the male birds of prey are smaller than the females. Larger females are favored because they can incubate larger numbers of offspring, while also being able to breed a larger clutch size.

Avem means bird in Latin. Birds of prey are motherfucking cool.

“RAT RACE” - The New Caledonian crow is native to New Caledonia, a French Territory east of Australia. Often studied for their cognitive ability, New Caledonian crows have been observed not only creating their own tools out of twigs or leaves but using one tool on another tool in order to complete a task, namely reaching food. This behaviour, known as meta-tool use had previously only been observed in primates.

We thought about how a human would feel if they were a New Caledonian crow in captivity, and likened it to running the Rat Race.

“LETS GO WATCHING” - Researchers from the University of Exeter recently found that bird watching can have a positive effect on mental health. They discovered that people who are able to watch birds from home have a lower risk of depression, stress, and anxiety compared to people who live in less nature-dense areas with fewer birds. Fuck yeah, let’s go watching!

The world’s fucked. When you need an escape, or need to reset, go watch some fucking birds. They’re one of the most interesting creatures on this planet.

"MOTHER NATURE REALLY SUCKS" - Avian vagrancy is when birds veer off course and continue flying around searching for others of their kind. Quite often this is done indefinitely until their ultimate demise, whether due to a predator, starvation, or lack of suitable habitat.

This arrogant bird flew the wrong way trying to prove his flock wrong and ended up in the Arctic, and he’s realized that he’s fucked and is gonna die.

“KEEP YOU SAFE” - The majority of birds perform what is called bi-parental care, meaning the mated pair equally contribute to the rearing and raising of their young. Typically the male is responsible for gathering food while the female is the caretaker. Quite often the male will only feed the female, who then regurgitates that food to the chicks. Some birds, such as the Osprey are aggressive defenders of their nests and will attack anything that comes close.

Most birds raise their young the same way humans do. That egg and that baby is the only important thing in a mated pair’s life until it leaves the nest. The only difference is, birds wait until all their kids have left their nest before they have more!

“RED WINGED BLACKBIRD” - Red winged blackbirds, native to North and Central America, are middle sized omnivores that mainly eat seeds and insects. They get their name from the male’s large red spot on each wing, which is primarily used to assert their dominance and defend their territory, with studies showing that males with larger red spots fared better in battles with their fellow red winged blackbirds. You’ll often see them hanging out on a cattail in the ditch or by a wetland.

Just in case you didn’t know how to identify a red winged blackbird, we get you 80% of the way there with this song.

"NO, HOMO!" - Contrary to the intentionally inflammatory and controversial title, homosexuality has been observed in over 150 different species of birds. An awesome example is the black swan, where an estimated one-quarter of all black swans pairings are homosexual. They are known to form temporary threesomes with females to obtain eggs, driving away the female after she lays the eggs. If you say queer is anti-science you are fucking WRONG, and you should eat a big fat bag of shit.

This whole song, lyrics and all came to Julian during a late night smoke. He hummed the melodies as he ran upstairs, then recorded all he could using 2 or 3 voice notes. Then he sat down and wrote out all the lyrics, laughing the whole time. Fuck you homophobes, and fuck you pious pricks.

"PRE-SUBURBAN PARADISE" - Besides predation by domestic or feral cats, the largest cause of individual bird deaths is believed to be collisions with windows in buildings. While birds can see through glass and what is reflected on glass, they are not able to see the glass itself and can fly directly into windows due to being attracted to a reflection or a plant on the other side of the glass.

Julian summed it up best in an interview he did with That’s Good Enough For Me: “There was a beautiful forest and grassland just outside of my hometown that I used to spend a lot of time in when I was younger. It was always so peaceful and serene, and now there’s 300+ houses there. Old growth forest just mowed over and decimated for more city folk to move out to a nice small town that can’t sustain an increased population. When I saw the carnage, all I could think about was all the native species that was displaced, and what the fuck they are supposed to do now that their home is gone. That led to the story behind Pre Suburban Paradise; I had to mess around with my story a bit and add some repeating parts to make it fit the music a bit more, but all in all it came out really well. I think the juxtaposition (thats what it is, right?) of such a happy sounding song with such depressing lyrics is really powerful. Birds are so innocent, man. They’re like us, they just want to survive and live their lives. Apart from watching their back for native predators and making sure they have enough food, their lives are pretty happy. Developers and the desire for big, expensive homes have consequences nobody thinks about. I wanted to put a small voice to that.”

“HAPPY HUMMINGBIRD” - Hummingbirds are wild. Their wings beat up to 90 times a second. Their heart rate can reach as high as 1260 beats a minute, with a breathing rate of 250 times a minute, even while resting. The Rufous hummingbird makes perhaps the longest migratory journey of any bird in the world. At just over 3 inches long and under 5 grams in weight, Rufous hummingbirds travel 3,900 miles one-way from Alaska to Mexico in late summer. Like I said, hummingbirds are fucking wild.

This fun little melody was actually the idea of our guitar player’s father. We did it Graham!

“JUST LIKE ME” – During breeding season, the only thing birds care about is the successful rearing of their young. Nest placement and food collection opportunities are of paramount importance to the survival of the clutch. Once the eggs hatch, all energy is spent collecting food, defending the nest, and maintaining a warm temperature as the newborn chicks are unable to regulate their own body temperatures. For most birds the young are ready to leave the nest after a couple weeks, following their parents to learn how to find food and survive. They then will leave, and start the cycle all over again.

Another song about nurturing the young. It’s an important aspect of birds, and one that’s pretty easy to witness during breeding season pretty much anywhere there are birds. This particular song speaks to the effort it takes to raise your young, and what we imagine birds must be thinking to themselves as they go through the motions and do everything they can to have successful offspring. It must really freak red-eyed vireos out when their hard work results in a massive brown-headed cowbird.

“IT'S SUCH A MESS” - House sparrows and other small songbirds have adapted to life in urban sprawl. They’ll regularly be seen poking through garbage, hopping around parked cars, and weaving around throngs of people to eat discarded food and anything else they can get their beaks on. How they put up with all the lights, sounds, pollution, and trash is truly a marvel of nature.

We’re always amazed at how many birds we see in the hubbub of the city, and wonder what they think of us ginormous meatbags walking around creating such filth and chaos.

“SNOWY OWL” - Snowy owls are one of the largest owls in the world. Their heavily feathered feet hide long, razor sharp talons which allow them to prey on small mammals as well as other birds such as ducks, grouse, or seabirds. Their mostly white plumage allows for ideal camouflage while perched waiting for prey to come close, although they employ numerous hunting techniques. The Snowy owl is a silent killer and in most cases the prey have no idea they are about to become swallowed whole.

Such a graceful and deadly predator, it was only fitting to write a dark song about the snowy owl. Fun fact about the snowy owl; they’re one of the few owl species that actively hunt when it’s light out. Since their habitat is the arctic, they deal with up to 24h long days during the summer.

“NIGEL”- Nigel No Mates was a Gannet who became attracted to a concrete statue of a female Gannet on Mana Island in New Zealand. Conservation groups placed 80 statues of Gannets in an attempt to repopulate Mana Island with Gannets, and for 5 years Nigel stayed with this one single statue, building a nest for the two and multiple copulation attempts. Before he died, three other Gannets landed on the island but Nigel showed no interest, staying away until he was found dead beside Connie, his one true love. Part of the lyrics are adapted from a poem written by the Friends of Mana Island (https://manaisland.org.nz)

As huge fans of pretty much whatever Grath Madden touches, we couldn’t have a record without a 6/8 ballad. This subject was perfect for this type of song, as the best ballads are love songs. Nigel was truly an inspiration to us all.

“REALLY GOTTA GO” - Nobody knows for certain why birds know when to migrate, but scientists believe they observe the sun, the stars, and the magnetic field of the Earth to determine when to leave for warmer climates. Other triggers can be the length of the day, and lowering abundance of food. Whatever the case, when they gotta go, they really gotta go and will let nothing get in their way to get outta here.

Migration is such a huge part of a bird’s life, it’s hard not to write about. What’s so amazing about migration is that they just know where they need to go. Birds’ eyes feature specialized cells called cryptochromes, some of which undergo particular chemical reactions, depending on the influence of the earth’s magnetic field—meaning that birds may essentially be able to see magnetism. Like holy shit.

“CALLING CARD” - Many birds hunt at night, but few are as prolific as the Great Horned Owl. Camouflage masters, they will sit patiently upon a high perch or tree and wait for the opportune moment to swoop down and strike their prey, usually killing them by crushing them with their feet or piercing them with their talons.

Without even realizing it until it was recorded, Stella Sapiente really influenced this song.

“MARTIAN WREN” - A strange species not officially documented, the Martian Wren is said to come from Mars with the explicit purpose of probing the derriere of all humans. Known to shit in the hair of birdwatchers everywhere, always be on the lookout for the infamous Martian Wren.

ALWAYS be on the lookout for this pest whenever you’re out in nature. Their favourite spots seem to be branches over trails (for shitting) and really nice trees to sit under (for probing).

“ROTTEN EGG” - Just because you came from a rotten egg doesn’t mean you have to be a shitty bird. Remember that, and be awesome.

That pretty much sums it up, and it’s worth saying again. Just because you came from a rotten egg doesn’t mean you have to be a shitty bird.

“BLUE JAY” - Blue Jays aren’t actually blue! According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, A blue jay's wings contain tiny pockets made of air and keratin, the same protein that makes up our hair and fingernails. When light hits these pockets in the blue jay's feathers, all of the colors of the wavelength except blue are absorbed. The blue wavelength is refracted, which is what allows us to see the feathers as blue in color.

This was the first song we ever wrote, and while the lyrics could be considered juvenile, none of them are false (except the title bird, but indigo bunting or eastern bluebird is a lot harder to fit in 2 syllables). In case you’re wondering why we hate starlings, they are incredible pests that can destroy crop after crop, are bullies, and just overall shitty. That being said, if you’ve ever seen a murmuration of starlings, you’ve witnessed Nature’s true glory.

“SING EVERY DAY” - Birds go through struggles every day of their life. They constantly are on the lookout for predators, and often will have multiple near death experiences in a single day, while at the same time desperately looking for food to get them through another night. Yet they still manage to sing every day. You should remember to sing every day. We would also like to note that we compiled the vocalists for this song in 2018. If we knew then what we knew now, one vocalist in particular would not have been included.

We were trying to write a simple song, and ended up writing our longest song we’ve ever written! Big thanks to Grath (House Boat/Steinways/Barracuda Mcmurder/Robot Bachelor/A Million Other Bands), Fraser (Murderburgers/Wrong Life/The Phase Problem/A Million Other Bands), and all our partners/friends/their kids for singing on this song. Everyone’s singing, every day.