Two Wounded Birds - All I Wanna Do / Midnight Wave

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know, and it pays to have friends in high places. Handpicked from unsigned obscurity by The Drums late last year as support for their European Tour, Two Wounded Birds are now signed to Moshi Moshi with an album due out sometime this year. And in the meantime, following on from their ‘Holiday’ EP, we have this double A-side.

I’d hesitate to say that if you like The Drums, you’ll like this, but there are some very obvious similarities. However, whereas the former attempted to mold their Beach Boys surf-pop influences into something they could call their own, TWB come across more like a straight up, full on tribute act, so “faithful” are they to that era. Singer Johnny Danger – a name surely lifted from an oh-so-rebellious motorbike gang leader in some 60’s B-movie - told us recently that ‘We are not harking back to older stuff for the sake of it, it’s stuff we love and get off on,’ but that shouldn’t preclude originality and inventiveness being high in a band’s priorities, and the tracks here are a case in point.

While ‘My Lonesome’ showcased their mellower, pop side, these tracks are hewn straight from primal, greasy 60’s garage rock. ‘All I Wanna Do’ is a bundle of four-chord nervous energy, whizzing by in less than two minutes. With the trebly guitars getting an extra kick of fuzz for the chorus, and the liberal use of cymbals, the vocals are somewhat lost in the mix, although one suspects they’re happy for people to focus more on the music. ‘Midnight Wave’ is similarly frenetic but with an improved hook and solos that more than nod to The Cramps and Link Wray in style and substance, whereas instrumental ‘Do The Jay Jay’ sounds like the sort of track Tarantino would commission if he used new music, a veritable ‘Bullwinkle Part II’ for the new millennium.

All in all though, it’s really not half bad. It’s certainly fun, great to dance to, and they don’t take themselves too seriously. The only concern is the big elephant sitting in the corner of the room - imitation. It’s fine to love old bands, and to even sound like them, but at some point you need to inject your own thoughts, ideas and personality, and these guys aren’t there yet – witness the echo and sustain used on ‘Midnight Wave’. Danger did also mention that the LP will consist of totally new material, with the older stuff left behind, so perhaps they are just finding their voice and seeing what works. They definitely have potential, and it’d be a shame if they didn’t fulfil it. Not bad, but must do better.