DecoyMusic.com

Sign Up | Login |

Forgot your password?

A Fine Frenzy - Bomb In A Birdcage

Rating

RIYL

Brooke Waggoner
She&Him
Imogen Heap

Release Date

09/08/2009

Label

Virgin Records

Tracklist

1. Wouldn’t Do
2. New Heights
3. Electric Twist
4. Blow Away
5. Happier
6. Swan Song
7. Elements
8. World Without
9. Bird Of The Summer
10. Stood Up
11. Beacon

Users Rating 1 rating	Your Rating Create an account or log in to rate this album
Recent Ratings
Zach Roth

A Fine Frenzy is really just the work of pianist Alison Sudol, but the talented woman has consumer psychology all figured out by donning the deceptive full band-suggesting stage name – the general audience will sooner shell out cash for a band with a cool name than for a mundane singer/songwriter. Or maybe Sudol just found the name intriguing. Either way, sophomore venture Bomb In A Birdcage is far less misleading. You get what you bargain for when you pop in the disc – 11 tracks of silky and charming piano pop to sedate your worrisome mind to.

Overall, the album sheds a joyful radiance. From the upbeat romp of the pretty “Wouldn’t Do” (complete with whistling) that finds Sudol romantically requesting the addressee to “lace your hands around the small of my back and I will kiss you,” to the radio-ready simplicity of “Blow Away,” to the mid-tempo, Brooke Waggoner-saluting grandness of “Elements,” A Fine Frenzy is certainly anything but sad here, as some claim her debut effort to be.

“Electric Twist” practically aims for delirium when Sudol yelps her “twists” and “kisses” at the end of its four-and-a-half minutes of bass-driven dance vibe. The track checks in just 7 minutes into the album, and nothing after it remotely tries to reach its energy, though this doesn’t stop them from continuing in quieter beauty. Things do manage to get more sentimental as time passes, though, and a trifecta of songs written in said manner sees listeners on their way out at the conclusion. “Bird Of The Summer,” “Stood Up” and “Beacon” are all mellow beauties that highlight Sudol’s songwriting ability exceptionally.

Bomb In A Birdcage ultimately brings no novelties to the female-fronted pop plate, and because of this, is at risk of boring veteran listeners of the style. Still, a finely written collection of songs in a genre that is speedily on the rise, it most definitely is, if nothing more. While it may not take much effort to tune out of softer numbers, it takes even less effort to be swept up in the sensational bliss of the bouncier tracks. Bomb In A Birdcage is music that is just right for winding down to a summer evening. Don’t make the mistake of casually shoving this aside; it may be intricate, but it is undoubtedly not forgettable.

--Matthew Tsai