Violent Femmes - Why Do Birds Sing? - 1991 (Amazon)
You know this album isn't even available on iTunes or Amazon MP3 download. A shame, really, because much of this record, for me, was a real return to the Femmes I fell in love with.
I know that the last bastion of the lazy music reviewer is to criticize the album art but I think the art for "Birds" is important. It's a return to the ambiguous, non-sequitor art that was found on the first album. And, this album is as much an attempt to return to that form as possible.
The opening track, "American Music" has been a staple of repeat play on my music delivery systems for almost 20 years now. It's haunting and desperate and almost calls to mind David Lynch at his most accessible.
By the time we get to the second cover in the band's repertoire, we've actually been set up for it, we discover, for about a decade. The Femmes' version of Culture Club's Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? may have only been about 9 years removed from the original but it could be a generational expanse. It makes sense in Gano's twisted, troubled larynx. At once nostalgic and refreshing at the same time, the Femme's version is, I dare say, as good as the original.
Even piffle like the wistfully chirpy, "Hey Nonny Nonny", cause me to tap my feet and bounce a little. (The backing nods to the Stones' Sympathy for the Devil is a treat) And the counterpoint of melody and melancholy of Used to Be is beautiful. It might be the best produced track in the band's catalog.
When Gano sings "He likes me!" on that song he is so sick with sarcasm and jealousy that he proves that, while he's not in high school anymore, he certainly hasn't lost that frustrating feeling that comes with adolescent, post-adolescent and, even, 20something unrequited amour.
Why Do Birds Sing" isn't their best album. I think we can all agree that that is a battle between their first 2 but it IS one of their most accessible. In fact, I would have to rank it just below Hallowed Ground. It was almost too late for the band to regain the crown of relevance when they released this. Too bad, really.
With the exception of toss-off turds like Flamingo Baby & Lack of Knowledge this album is exceptional. The kiss-off to the jerks who mocked him in his youth, "More Money Tonight", is Gano at his most vindictive.
"Have mercy on me, I have girl trouble up the ass!" Oh, Gordon, you crack me up.
Grade A
A Side: American Music, Out the Window, Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?
BlindSide: Look Like That, Hey Nonny Nonny, Used to Be, He Likes Me
DownSide: Flamingo Baby, Lack of Knowledge
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