[Repost from Rosy Overdrive; April 3, 2025]
Release date: April 4th
Record label: Fort Lowell
Genre: Power pop, fuzz pop, indie pop
Formats: Vinyl, digital
Pull Track: What Did You Expect (With Such a Beautiful Wife)
I first heard of Kicking Bird, Wilmington, North Carolina’s premiere surf-pop quintet, thanks to their debut album, 2023’s Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. That’s a really fun album, a nice collection of Pixies-inspired fuzz-power pop (and it also put their label, Fort Lowell, on my radar–and I’ve written about a bunch of good records that they’ve put out since then). Almost exactly two years later, Kicking Bird are back with a sophomore LP, and 11 Short Fictions largely picks up where the band (vocalist/guitarist Shaun Paul, vocalist/keyboardist Shaylah Paul, guitarist Robin Cooksley, drummer Greg Blair, and bassist Tom Michels) left off. The pop music of 11 Short Fictions feels perhaps more ambitious than its predecessor–at this point, Kicking Bird are starting to remind me of power pop bands who give off a bit of “collective” energy like The New Pornographers or even the poppier side of The Apples in Stereo. The occasional Black Francis bite to Shaun Paul’s vocals and moments of kicked up fuzz rock are still here, part of a vivid tapestry also including a bit of twee, glam rock, and southern college rock, among other detours.
“We drove down to the boathouse / In a car she took from her uncle / She swore she’d never been there before / But she found that key like she had been there before,” Shaun sings in single “Cinnamon”, a wild garage rock and roll song that Kicking Bird pull off without invalidating their friendlier moments. I have no idea how these songs relate to themselves (“Facts and false memories. Hypocrisies, admissions and denials. Stories,” the band says about the record; “She kinda tasted like cinnamon / I probably tasted like Indica,” goes another memorable line in “Cinnamon”). The pop songs are huge and just as desperate-sounding as the loudest rockers–“Where’d You Get Those Pants” rips, “Verdun” struts–and while Shaylah Paul’s vocals are a lot less “unhinged” than Shaun’s, songs like “What Did You Expect (With Such a Beautiful Wife)” and “Good Lighting” certainly don’t bring the party to a halt merely by being just a bit more even-keeled (the explosive guitar work in the latter song doesn’t hurt, either). Shaylah’s “Too Much Talking” is the one true “ballad” on the album–it’s a waltz, and even here Kicking Bird can’t help but slipping a little feedback into the song before they return to sum up 11 Short Fictions with three more guitar-showcase rockers. Here’s hoping Kicking Bird can keep this high level of energy up for just a little bit longer–impressively, 11 Short Fictions shows no signs of slowing down. (Bandcamp link)
