RADIO BIRDMAN

AC/DC apart, Australia does not really occupy a particularly prominent position on the global scale of rock history. Furthermore, if you listened to this CD in complete ignorance of its origins you would no doubt write it off as an energetic but shameful rip-off of the past thirty years of garage rock. Radio Birdman are not a recent band, though, but one that split up to the regret of no-one in particular over twenty years ago. That a band like Jet are now selling more records probably per month than Radio Birdman sold during the entirety of their brief existence is a woeful, if unsurprising, injustice. With both musical and geographical roots in the Detroit scene of the early seventies (guitarist/songwriter Deniz Tek grew up in the company of the Stooges and MC5 before emigrating back to his antipodean origins) Radio Birdman are, in many ways, the missing link between the pre-punk garage rock pioneers and the post-punk garage rock popularisers. Taking the savage twin-guitar attack of the indomitable duo of Wayne Kramer and Sonic Smith (of the MC5) Radio Birdman created a rock'n'roll head-rush to match the similarly inclined peers on the other side of the world, the New York Dolls and the Ramones. Given the contemporaneous nature of their development it is unlikely the Ramones had a strong influence on Radio Birdman but it is interesting to note that both revelled in a similarly naive and light-hearted approach to rock'n'roll, despite taking their cues from the political ferocity of the MC5 and the debauched diatribes of the Stooges. Vocalist Rob Younger does not match Iggy's other-worldly power as a vocalist, although he does his best, and the Stooges' influence is at least explicit in the band's very name, being taken from Iggy's ranting in the unhinged "1970". Radio Birdman released two albums, 1977's Radio's Appear (later rehashed for international release) and 1981's Living Eyes, as well as two EPs - Burn My Eye and the live More Fun. Due to an obvious if undeserved lack of demand all four records are out of print, either on vinyl or CD, and therefore the general recommendation is to purchase this recent compilation, released by Sub Pop, that contains the majority of tracks from all four releases. Obviously I cannot comment on what has been left off but once you reach the twenty-second and final track one feels listening to absolutely everything they recorded would be more of a historical pleasure than a real one. That said, it may well have been worth their while including the entirety of Radios Appear and Burn My Eye as it is clear that the early stuff is the really explosive material. By the time the second album material rolls into view it becomes clear that while the energy levels may not have diminished there was little being added to justify continued production of the same old shtick. Like an over-long firework exhibition, the bangs become gradually less exciting as the quantity starts stacking up. Upon reaching the final three songs, included from the live release, it becomes overly evident that their songwriting was hitting not so much diminishing returns as repeated returns, with "Breaks My Heart" being "Burn My Eye" with a cursory substitution of new lyrics. Still, the sheer excitement of the first three-quarters of this compilation does enough to warrant its essential recommendation with an explosion of rock'n'roll energy that has been aped more times than a George W Bush caricature. From the early Replacements to the Hives, every new favourite band will sound slightly less original when you first come across the delights of this document. Although Tek does reflect, if not copy, the Ramones' flippancy with the explosive naive teenage anthems "New Race", "Murder City Nights", "Do the Pop", and "Aloha Steve & Danno" (literally a sincere tribute to the delights of Hawaii Five-0) he is also able to darken the mood with ominous, driving "Descent into the Maelstrom" and "Man With Golden Helmet". As already noted, diversity is not the key-word but when the band do stretch out on the countrified "Snake" the rewards return in spades with arguably the best track on the album (whilst forcing the Kings of Leon to embarrassingly back-peddle). Radio Birdman were obviously not the world's most adventurous band, but they were certainly one of the most energetic, and when one considers that they were one of the first names in the garage rock history books their approach deserves many more plaudits than it currently garners. As it is, they stand out as one of the most raucous, noisiest, and most exhilarating bands in rock'n'roll history.

From: Mike in Madison

very nice writing and keen observations. I've been listening to this album a few months now, having discovered retroactively the RB from the Hellacopters, who might be considered an RB clone of sorts. Just a friendly note to say, good work.

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Email me at: jackfeeny@yahoo.co.uk