Baltimore’s own Eureka Birds, are like a pared down, indie rock version of Radiohead. And that’s a good thing. Their music lacks the boom and pomp and, most noticeably, the breaking-and-creaking voice of Thom Yorke, but retains the spaced out vibe that achieves intimacy, paradoxically, by creating distance from the listener. The painful torture of each song calls to mind Death Cab in their earlier days, but the production is more shoegazey and atmospheric. Every song sounds far away, but feels close and lonely.
The band’s self-titled debut is both a grower and a shower. Opening track, “The Still Life,” is eerie and enticing, and it is the perfect beginning to the “Now They Rise” closer, about the dead who will live again. What are Eureka Birds talking about? It’s impossible to know for sure, because the lyrics are often abstract, but each song seems to be directed at a particular person. Some individual who has crossed paths with Justin Levy at some time in the past, perhaps broken his heart or stolen his car, and the singer is trying desperately to reconnect.
Levy, the frontman, is the vocalist and piano player. It’s unusual to have a band led by the ivory tinkler, but there’s nothing conventional about Eureka Birds. Every time I hear this record I like it more. This is a fascinating debut, worth more study, worth your attention, and worth your money.
I recommend it highly. Go check it out.
