Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha

Genre rock Publisher Fat Possum Records External Links Official Andrew Bird Website Official Fat Possum Records Website Andrew Bird - "Heretics" MP3

Despite the fact that Armchair Apocrypha is Andrew Bird's seventh studio album, many will remember him only for his brief tenure as a violinist with the Squirrel Nut Zippers. Not that there's anything wrong with that; at least it wasn't one of those ubiquitous fake-swing bands with "Daddy" in their names. Eww...

But, as usual, I digress. Bird's work since then has been neither as immediate as the Squirrel Nut Zippers' unexpectedly resonant Dixieland hybrid, nor as raw as the work of his label mates at Fat Possum. Instead, Bird trades in a smooth, slow-burning sort of French cabaret pop, topped off by his laconic voice. In fact, Bird's vocals are the least polished element of Armchair Apocrypha, giving the sometimes overly structured songs a sorely needed vitality. At times, such as on album opener "Fiery Crash," the vocal's sprightly resignation offsets the chill of the production. "Imitosis" spreads Bird's sly vocal atop a slinky groove that belies the song's subject.

Unfortunately, this approach doesn't always work. The stately "Cataracts" is dragged down by Bird's somnolent voice, and "Spare-ohs" just sounds like a Beck ripoff. "Yawny and the Apocalypse," the closing track, benefits from its instrumental status, but the damage has been done. Next time some vocal histrionics might do the trick.