Band: A Lot Like Birds
Album: No Place
Release Date: 10/29/13
Rating - ★★★★★
Post-hardcore outfit, A Lot Like Birds, are no strangers to the hardcore game. After vocalist Kurt Travis joined the group in 2011, they released Conversation Piece, which was their second album. They signed shortly afterwards with Equal Vision Records, and began work on a new album. This album, No Place, hits a high mark. And hits it hard.
First off, this isn't the normal indie band you'll usually see on here. With a sound that fits alongside Dance Gavin Dance, but also finds a way to meld La Dispute with The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, A Lot Like Birds is one of the most diverse and ambitious hardcore bands out there today.
No Place is a simply beautiful album. And first listen you might think I'm crazy. Screeching screams, erratic guitar riffs, and off-key wailing would turn off many from this band. But for those of you who listen to hardcore, you'll hear what I hear. Boasting hauntingly deep lyrics, painfully emotional vocals, and screeching guitar riffs; No Place does something that is rare in music today. It makes you feel.
The duo that is vocalist Kurt Travis (clean) and Cory Lockwood (unclean), is one that is unmeasured in the scene. Often alternating verses, or trading off mid-line, the way these two switch from panicked yelling to reflective spoken word and then back to clean singing is incredible. Kurt and Cory's vocals are what makes this album so strong. You can't help but feel the pain in their voices. In the song "No Nurture," the lyrics surround a story of an unloving father. "Father, the day you die I hope you die in a living room. I hope the irony does not let you laugh. I hope the life that flashes before your eyes is mine and it doesn't flash fast." You feel the pain. You cant help but reflect it with your own life, even if it the lyrics don't, per se, apply to you. That's what makes this album beautiful. Tell me the last time you heard a song that makes you reflect life.
I understand that No Place won't be everyone's favorite album. However, it's an album that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for new music. The album carries strong written songs throughout, and has a great mix of harder, 'screaming' songs alongside softer spoken-word ones. I know as an A Lot Like Birds fan, having given it four listens already, I have barely scratched the surface on all that this album has to offer. And that's why it's beautiful.
Must Listen Tracks: Next to Ungodliness, No Nurture
-Will
