The Folk is strong in this One

Being the faux indie kid that I am (or posing to be), I stumbled upon these guys while attempting to fulfill my “quota” for “new and obscure” indie music. However, to my surprise, Bowerbirds are not “new” by hipster/indie/pitchfork standards nor is it obscure. By this point, if I were truly ‘indie’ snobster material, Bowerbirds would be nonexistent in my Itunes library for it weren’t so, I would committing the one thing that every indie hipster fears the most – not being the first to brag to their friends about how they “found” this new super cool band/singer-songwriter/rapper.

Well I stop rambling now and I’ll begin by enlightening you folks with a little bit of background information about who these wonderful dudes are. Hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina, Bowerbirds is actually a boyfriend and girlfriend duo (Awww cute I know) consisting of Beth Tacular (yes that is her real name…bethtacular!) on accordion, vocals and the occasional bass drum, and Phil Moore on guitar and lead vocals. Their current drummer right now is I believe a fellow named Matt Damron. BUT that’s not important – what is important of course is the obscenely orgasmic, sensual and sublime melodies that they play.

As of now, Bowerbirds have released two LPs. The most recent entitled ‘Upper Air’ features probably their most famous song “Northern Lights”, which an absolutely amazing tune to listen to either while studying, walking down the busy streets of Toronto, or simply laying down on your bed (Bonus points if you have another chick with you – TEEHEE). Moore’s soft, Americana folk style timbre creates soundscapes of evergreen trees, lost love and spiritual redemption that, if completely immersed, can be just what you need at the end of the day.

The first LP “Hymns for a Dark Horse” is definitely more diverse than its folkier progeny “Free Air”. The jazzy, world music-influenced “In Our Talons” displays both nice accordion work from Tacular, and exceptional lyrics from Moore, which is both gentle and taunting (We're only human/ This at least we've learned). The oddly timed and hypnotic “Dark horse” is somewhat reminiscent of songs from the next album, but retains the unique flavour of this wonderful album through its deep drum and acoustic riffs that screams Death Cab for Cutie meets Andrew Bird. Definitely a richer album and is currently one my personal favourite albums.

So If you like other folk artists like Feist, Bon Iver, or simply want to try you luck out with folk for the first time, then I highly recommend Bowerbirds for your listening needs, particularly their most recent album, “Free Air”. It’s not as “experimental” as their first album, but still retains the unique flavour of the folky, Americana sound of the Bowerbirds. I hope you indulge yourself with this new found knowledge and pay it forward without being an indie snob!