It’s a long time since I was in a band, but this rehearsal video brings it all back to me, making me go all misty eyed with nostalgia. It helps, of course, that British Birds make a highly palatable brand of slightly angular pop music that lies somewhere between The Cure, Talking Heads and Pavement – catchy but slightly off kilter, the Lancashire outfit have gained a fan in 6Music’s Marc Riley, and it isn’t hard to see why.
‘Open It, Close It‘ is, to put it simply, a delightful three and a half minute slice of pretty, jangly alt pop (four minutes in the rehearsal video) that stays with you even after just one listen, frontman Bobby Mambo‘s plaintive singing voice somehow the perfect foil for Ellie Winstanley‘s fresh, exuberant backing vocal.
The future looks bright for Chorley’s British Birds. May they fly high.
You can listen listen to the studio version here, recorded at Clitheroe’s The Grand Studio.
