Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk at Some House in NE Portland

It seems appropriate that I have only ever seen Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk in basements or upstairs, attic-like spaces where people normally pack away all of their boxes and odds and ends that tend to pile up over time, leaving them with the task of digging through layers and layers of stuff before finding what they are looking for.

BBDDM have always been up for that task.


On their most recent album, Skeletor & Me, as well as their live performances since its release, BBDDM have slowed down that search, taking the time to build up the layers upon which noise music breathes. But, while most noise music reaches its peaks by piling on the next layer, BBDDM have discovered how to bury themselves underneath those layers, creating their moments by climbing up and resurfacing for brief moments where minimal drums and maximal guitar noise pierce through the mess.

When talking to Drew from the band after the show, I mentioned that I had wanted to see their show at the Reed College Chapel last Friday, but couldn't make it because I had to close that night. He said that they chapel was gorgeous and that they had intentionally tried to make their set more "beautiful" for that show.

That represents the entire range of this band's sound-- crawling up from underneath a basement filled with clutter to echoing downward from a chapel ceiling, and with each new release, Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk continue to push the heights, as well as the depths, further.