First Look: Mimicking Birds – S/T

Mimicking BirdsMimicking Birds’ debut album is a haunted affair, introspective folk enveloped by ghosts. Those ghosts, of course, belong to Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock, who produced Mimicking Birds at his home studio and owns the band’s label, Glacial Pace. On “Home and Somewhere Else” and “New Doomsdays,” Brock surrounds Birds frontman Nate Lacy with whispered echoes; on “Burning Stars,” it’s a stream of watery burbles that turn the song’s chugging 6th chords from angular to evocative. As with studio-oriented albums such as Akron/Family’s self-titled debut or last year’s Atlas Sound release, the swirling effects and found sounds enrich already vibrant music — Lacy’s voice, a quivering Will Johnson-esque lion, noble and vulnerable, would be compelling enough, but the album chooses to go deeper.

Mimicking Birds – “New Doomsdays”: mp3

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