Album review: Kills Birds – Married

There’s a lot of noise around Los Angeles trio Kills Birds right now. It’s not every aspiring alt-punk outfit, after all, who get to record at Dave Grohl’s Studio 606 by invitation of the Nicest Man In Rock himself. Although there are valid comparisons made in that esteemed association – Kills Birds draw far more from the gritty, awkward flavour of Nirvana than Foo Fighters’ easier arena rock, for instance – focus must remain on the drive and dynamism of the 11 songs with which they’ve repaid Big Dave’s good faith.

Kicking off with the percussive, almost-spoken-word riot punk stylings of bands like Amyl & The Sniffers, bombastic opener Rabbit punches with real purpose, demanding that listeners sit up and pay attention. Its abrasiveness is quickly switched for more subtle, layered soundscapes, however. Cough Up Cherries pulsates with nervy melancholy. Natalie is a grungy, bass-driven dirge. Glisten veers from doomy ambience to a thrashing climax that begs the question, over and over, ‘Why don’t you want me?’

Drawing on everything from the wrenching displacement of vocalist Nina Ljeti’s family during the 1990s’ Bosnian War to the loneliness and disconnection of COVID-enforced lockdown, waves of emotion swell and subside. Wrangled by producer Yves Rothman, they’re far more defined here than on 2019’s self-titled debut (blasted out across eight hours with Justin Raisen), exuding an expansive, layered timelessness. As the record unfolds, Nina’s raspy swagger draws more and more favourable comparisons to The Distillers’ Brody Dalle. Songs like Reasoning and Wallowing evoke '90s shoegaze and alt. heroes like Sonic Youth.

There’s an outstanding sense of pacing, too. After dissonant mid-album pivot Offside, the furious 26 seconds of Woman and unapologetically angular banger PTL slingshot you into the record’s even-deeper second half. Good Planning grapples intriguingly with the ominous, lumbering inevitability of human existence. The closing title-track is a compelling chronicle of longing and heartbreak that shapeshifts from soft-strummed love-song into wailing lament.

So believe the hype, not because these are songs seeking to storm charts or surge into stadia, but for their ability to so bittersweetly stir the soul.

Verdict: 4/5

For Fans Of: Sløtface, The Distillers, Sonic Youth

Married is out now via Royal Mountain / KRO