Another month, another list, another Bird Names record. If nothing else, I suppose this provides some insight into how much I actually listen to this band (hint: it's a lot). 20 Charters is a 10" EP which, if I understand correctly, came out of the same sessions as the album On Opaque Things. This EP however at least in terms of sheer abstruseness and fuck-all attitude is by far the most confusingly deranged output the band have ever released; for me, 20 Charters is like the holy grail of the Bird Names catalog.Sounding something like what I imagine a stripped down version of the band playing in a freight car full of hyperactive kids on a bumpy train ride to the sanitarium would sound like, the hooks and odd changes are all still there on this record, but the psychedelic aspects usually employed by the group seem to have shifted towards a more drug-damaged (rather than drug-assisted) vibe. Moments which might signal momentary calm or a restrained approach on other records, instead become twisted into grinning toothless homages to the indulgence of nihilistic freedom and temporary psychopathy. It is not an easy listen, and perhaps for some not a pleasant one...in a way it sometimes seems like the darkest output the band has ever released, but that's likely only because of the extent to which the band goes about deconstructing their style to make it sound, for lack of a better word, wrong.
I don't know, maybe that all came out wrong...the record isn't upsetting or unsettling in any way...just really strange, even by Bird Name's oddball standards...but on the other hand, if 20 Charters was a person, you probably wouldn't choose to sit next to them on the bus....if you think you're worthy of the quest, buy it direct from the band here.
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