Ollie Byrd makes songs. In 2006, his first solo record "Barrel O' Fun" was released to the delight of critics and common folk. Currently, he is working with the Trees on new songs. The Trees is Colin Mcenearny, Michael Gleason, and Mike Presta.
Ollie Byrd : Barrel O' Fun
Written by: Jason Miller, Spacelab
Ollie Byrd is not a band. He’s not a plane either. He may or may not be superman. What I do know about Ollie Byrd is that he was the singer and bass player of a Seattle band called Yeek Yak Airforce before deciding he wanted to go the four-track singer songwriter route. That route took him to Brooklyn where he traded in his four-track for a computer, recorded some songs, joined the Stereotype Records collective, released the album Barrel O’Fun, and most importantly, asked me to be his Myspace friend. I accepted, then spent the rest of the night trying to scrounge up as much Ollie Byrd music as I could find via the many tubes of the internets. I suppose Myspace is good for something after all.
Arrives A Girl will grab you right away, as Byrd takes an ambient yet driving guitar riff and combines it with electronic drums and layered vocals bearing a striking sense of immediacy. The hook is in the stabbing and bending guitar notes as they alternate with an urgent chorus of Byrd’s many voices. It is in these many voices where you will first hear Byrd’s obvious influences, creating a familiar sound that is unrefined, expressive, and sometimes imperfect with no sense of restraint or shame.
Musically, Byrd excels at creating a full band sound by himself, embracing his influences while noticeably striving for something to call his own. The songs are broad, well structured, extremely animated, and sometimes adventurous. They progress, revert, and often explode delightfully at the end. This, combined with Byrd’s new-millennium yet down-home production style, result in songs that are raw, stirring, and unpredictable. The potential here is astounding.
A resonating, pounding rhythm propels Couple Skate as it’s bouncy intro gives way to a high hat heavy understated verse, Mascis-like growl and all, before reappearing for a screamer of a chorus. After the second verse however, the song bypasses the chorus in lieu of a bridge to a Zepplinesque layered guitar offensive which carries it home. Running is at its core a very simple song that also showcases Byrd’s guitar proficiency in both the noodle-ing melody and the mellow solos. You are treated to two songs in one, in an A Day In The Life sort of way, with an Irish ditty sandwiched between matching guitar solos. A simple beginning gives way to a musical escapade peaking with an infectious sing-a-long ending. Wendy takes a crisp, dissonant, acoustic guitar melody straight out of summer of love and morphs it into three distinct parts, each with their own catchy lyrics, before ending with Crazy Horse fury over repetitive one note strumming. It’s a mess and I love it.
Chaka Khan, shows Byrd is clearly sincere in his songwriting while trying not to take himself or each individual song too seriously. It sounds as if Kurt Cobain had fallen for a Jenny Lewis type instead of Courtney Love and gave birth to a tongue in cheek downtempo love ballad. It’s a beautifully crafted song, but the comedic random lyrics and “Chaka Khan†whispers make it a goofball classic. The boisterous sing-along Electricity continues the fun with quirky repetitive lyrics delivered like a choir of Shannon Hoons and climaxing in recurring screams of “Wake Up!â€. In fact, most of Byrd’s songs have a certain sense of underlying, if not overt, merriment. My favorite, Prozac, blends a thumping dance beat, staccato guitar rhythm, and indecipherable harmonized vocals creating a drunken square dance that erupts at the end into an orgy of screaming and slapping. If this is what Prozac makes you feel like, I’m going to start taking it recreationally. I suggest you do the same.
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