Bird Names’ Hush-hush House Show

By Sarah Cobarrubias in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 12, 2010 8:30PM

Thursday night, we were lucky enough to experience Bird Names in their natural habitat: the cavernous, crowded basement of a Pilsen house-turned-venue. It was a low-key BYOB show advertised only by word of mouth, and a genuinely intimate atmosphere just right for soaking in Bird Names’ low-fi, erratic, experimental sound. The room was awash in red lighting and uncomfortably crammed full of fans drunkenly swaying to the rhythm as the band performed with no stage, pressed up against a wall, the audience at arm’s reach.

Bird Names seemed to play in an entranced state, allowing emotion and serendipity to decide the strum of the guitar or the shake of a maraca. During the short 30-minute set, they played a few off their most recent releases, like “Natures Over,” a frenzied arrangement of moaning, chanting and sloppy guitar riffs, and “I Had a Girl,” a folksy yet spastic love ballad. But for the most part, the songs blurred together in an indistinguishable whirl of pleasantly off-kilter choral vocals, eccentric drumming, jangly guitar strumming, and dizzying keyboard strokes. And when the set ended abruptly, the room took on an energized silence, as the crowd - a little disoriented and strangely refreshed - stood and recovered a moment before shuffling off.

Because their sound is all about feeling the music in the moment, Bird Names is best experienced live. Unfortunately, this show served as a send-off for the band, who just headed to Europe for a month-long tour, so you’re out of luck until February at the earliest. In the meantime, check out their latest album, Sings the Browns, which manages to capture their creative energy and unique, complex sound, while still maintaining their signature low-budget, analog quality. And before you know it, Bird Names will be back home in Chicago and back to playing every cheap, cramped loft show they can fit their equipment into.