The Birthday Machine
Direction & Destination
Top Quality Rock & Roll
Apparently a 7” (although my copy arrived in the shape of a compact disc), this is Vancouver’s The Birthday Machine’s first release, and it’s a lovely drowse through four songs of introvert, floating shoegazer beauty. Their half-mumbled, vulnerable melodies stumble forward in a slightly bemused manner, falsely suggesting the band doesn’t really know where they’re going, and The Birthday Machine succeeds in doing this without sounding coy or too studied about it. Split between male and female vocals, it is the Miko Hoffman-fronted songs that really make an impression, with both the wonderful “The Birthday Machine” and the EP’s endearing title track deserving special mentions. The closing “Closet Superhero” remix is pointlessly sketchy, but elsewhere The Birthday Machine deliver a stunning debut, and a forthcoming full-length release could prove to be something truly special indeed.
Top Quality Rock & Roll Records: http://www.topqualityrockandroll.com
