Local Reviews - Shards and Birds of Avalon

Rock versus Punk

July, 01, 2009 , by Vince

Shards - Two Tapes

The two tapes from Raleigh’s Shards - Suicide Sessions and its self-titled companion - clock in at under 20 minutes combined, which is just about enough time to start breaking a sweat. “They Want It They Get It” demands attention and if your ears become ensnared, then Shards have you trapped. They’ve been in countless (and I mean that, there too many to type here) bands from Raleigh, etc, so Shards are well prepared to blow out some eardrums and welcome any challengers. Distorted bass, lock-tight drumming emphasize Shards’ dark approach to a style comparable to early 80’s hardcore. Shards do this style justice. William Evans vocal approach is aggressive to say the least, with lyrics that mirror the sentiment of Shards’ music. But Shards is not just a band that heard a GBH or Germs record and thought “Hey, we can do that.” They even get creative via studio tricks halfway through Suicide Sessions. These cassettes show a quick evolution of a band that seems to be ready and willing to make some noise. If you are a fan of real, honest, working class punk rock, then this is your bag. Shard it up. Both cassettes available via Sorry State Records.

Birds of Avalon - Uncanny Valley

Band website

Birds of Avalon have a more rewarding listen for their audience this time around. Bazaar Bazaar, BOA’s first effort, is a well accomplished debut. The slept-on Outer Upper Inner EP continued the good work that their first album started.

In early 2009, BOA got a wild hair and decided to record an album with an air of spontaneous creativity and open optimism to how it may be received. Fans of Birds of Avalon’s barn-burning-psychedelia may be taken aback by Uncanny Valley on the first listen. When you open a record with 21 seconds of audio collage work, you are saying to the listener that they have their work cut out for them. They might ask, “Where is my Bicentennial Baby or Measure of the Same? “Side Two” is quick to answer, literally, with a song that clocks in at less than two minutes. With a single keyboard-guitar riff trade off, the song hypnotizes you. The spell is broken by Scott Nurkin’s wild drum fill, something usually saved for space-time traveling epics. What follows leaps far from expectations considered via their previous recorded efforts. “I Never Knew” is another catchy, short exercise with bassist David Mueller making a vocal debut. Restrained and spacey guitars bounce back and forth with the backbeat, which has its own interesting shirt-on-the-drums treatment. BOA is clearly making a point right away that this album is not going to be Bazaar Bazaar 2: Bazaarer.

Just when “Your Downtime Is Up” relaxes the ear, along comes “Dadcage,” a song that was made for the studio. You can’t let your guard down. BOA will not make it easy for you. Some of the albums freakier moments, like “Student Teaching” and “Micro Infinity” might find you enjoying the guitar work while wondering just what exactly they are talking about. “Peregrination” eases you into the albums inevitable end and provides the listener with more insights into BOA’s instrumental arsenal. Birds of Avalon have made a creative effort and have taken a big step forward. It is no surprise, coming from a band that is hard at work while you’re sleeping it off. Uncanny Valley is a great addition to Raleigh’s music catalog and an album that should not be slept on.

Birds of Avalon play the Pour House this Friday, July 3rd as part of WeeseFest, with American Aquarium, The T’s, Left Outlet and Skullbuckle.