Album Review: Birds & Batteries' "I'll Never Sleep Again"

I don't know what happened when I first heard Mike Sempert's Birds & Batteries.  My wife Kate had struck up a conversation with him in early 2006 at Albany's now defunct Ivy Room after a show, and he gave her a copy of the 18-song demo "Nature vs. Nature."  Kate gave it to me, and after giving it a once through - I found myself slipping it into my car's CD player whenever I drove across the bay bridge into the city.

What drew me into "Nature" was how it combined elements of music I loved in a way that seemed wholly original.  And because it is so rare for a band's music to strike me this way, I have become an unapologetic fan of Birds & Batteries (see the end of this post for old reviews & audio interviews).

The San Francisco based quartet have just come out with a new album entitled "I'll Never Sleep Again," which they recorded and mixed at a couple of big whoop studios - Vanderslizzle's Tiny Telephone and Hyde Street.

Before listening to it, I was honestly prepared for this to be a band that put out one great album that never matched up to later recordings.  And I would have been okay with that.

But "I'll Never Sleep Again" is a damn good album - every bit as good as "Nature vs. Nature."  Although the previous album did amazing things with garage folk-tronica, the new album has kept the same general aesthetics but also utilized insightful production to capture and hone that sound.

Here's a play-by-play:

1.    "Heart of Gold":  Just like Nature rolls off with a spacey interpretation of "Albuquerque," Sempert paralleled this in Sleep by starting with a similarly spacey "Heart of Gold", which has been a show staple for quite a while.  Yes - there's the plaintive pedal steel, but the melody is played by a weird multi-tone synth with an underscore of heavy "ursh" synth bass.  The synth-guitar break down in the middle is somehow still able to capture the longing poignancy of the original.  This is a very slow start to the album, which as a whole takes a while to peak.  Just consider it foreplay.

2.    “Jungles (Oceans)”:  This track is more like the second half of the previous song – a similar synth hook, but slightly more epic and all instrumental.  Its more like beautiful filler – breathing space before the next song.

3.   "I'll Never Sleep Again":  Here's another example of the evocative mixture of pedal steel and synth melodies.  Not to mention great songwriting.  I also noticed on this track that Sempert is taking more vocal risks, which is something that continues throughout the album.   Once it gets to the swell towards the songs end, I wish it would just explode.  But he gets to exploding later in the album.

4.   "A Passenger":  Like track 2, this track is like the second half of a 2 part suite – an extension of the previous song. There’s also mention of jungles and never sleeping.

5.    "Ocarina":  An unassuming anthem of good times past.  Hard to know if Sempert’s referring to the ancient wind instrument or the Zelda MPORG.  LOTS of water imagery in this one: underwater, rising swamps, water in sinking shoes, aquariums & shark tanks and oceanography.  Great song, although I think the ending is wrapped up too neatly.

6.    “After a Flood”:  Oddly infectious dance beat intro – I’m picturing a Justin Timberlake video with Sempert’s face superimposed. The break down is pretty amazing.  It has the strangest chord progression you’ve ever heard (which at first makes no sense but later listens reveal to be genius) coupled with a sick & funky bass line.  Then it launches into an intense recap of the song’s beginning, this time in a dance club swarming with sexy ladies and henchmen. 

7.    “Starclusters”:  This may be my favorite song on the album.  The first 30 seconds alone make it – stuttering electronic beats in strange succession followed by BLAM – the song proper.  The lyrics seem to be about how all stars die and give up their light to the universe.  But laid on this is the most fascinating assault on my ears, in the form of synth effects.  One of my favorite lines on the album:  “Out there in the open / Where the big things happen slowly / I can feel it coming towards me / Like a skater, it’ll crack the whip” – then BLAM – back into the synth assault.  Love it.

8.    “Turnstyles”:  This is the single.  Possibly the most perfectly constructed song I’ve heard in a long, long while.  Extremely catchy synth hook to open, then add steady kick drum, then add keys and bass.  Mix well.  The lyrics tell a bit of a story as well.  Simple yet wailing guitar solo leads into a surprising horn backup in verse 2. Towards the end, massive vocal layering leads the way back to a more upbeat recap of the initial hook.  My only complaint – this part of the song requires dancing, but as soon as you realize you’re required to dance – the song ends.

9.    “The Squeaky Wheel”:  Now we turn the pace down about 5 notches (out of 10).  A simple piano ditty – “The squeaky wheel gets the oil / the squeaky wheel gets the oil / make a sound while you toil / the squeaky wheel gets the oil.”  There’s several iterations of the same melody.  In the movie, the main character has just accidentally taken a several oxycontins and laid down by a tree in the park “just for a sec.”  7 hours later he snaps out of it and staggers home.

10.    “Soft Surveillance”:  Here’s the mandatory acoustic one….or so you thought!  The dance beat, bass, synth and pedal steal kick in.  More on this track than anything yet, I see that this album is driven by its driving electronic dance beats – beats that by themselves would be the center of the “Night at the Roxbury” skit on SNL.  But the addition of pedal steel, interesting bass lines, otherworldly synth textures, inventive guitar accompaniment and broadly-themed lyrics take the tongue out of the cheek of the dance beats. 

11.    “Humanization”:  A slow dirge that will be played by the gods at humanity’s wake. But this will be no ordinary wake, because the gods will get drunk and sway in a very epic manner. Featuring great, echoey female harmonies.

12.    “Mythology: The Great Director”:  Another synth slowcore song with lyrics front and center.  The harmonizing guitar solo sealed this one for me. 

13.    Extra Track?:  This one wasn’t mentioned on the jacket I got.  Mostly an outro of musical ideas that seem to stem from the “Humanization” track.

Holy wow this album is good.

If you still haven't gotten your fill:

• official website
• myspace site
• CrazyTalk 3.23.06 show review - Hotel Utah
  
• CrazyTalk 3.23.06 interview w. Mike Sempert @ Hotel Utah
• CrazyTalk 1.12.07 show review - El Rio
• CrazyTalk 1.12.07 interview w. Mike Sempert @ El Rio