when nirvana took west coast punk mainstream in the early 90s (followed shortly by the offspring and green day), it just sort of imploded. there was a huge rush to get on mtv. warped tour followed. skateboarding shoes became unreasonably expensive. by 2000, the whole thing was just entirely dismantled. fashions changed to offshoots of "post-hardcore" and "nu metal". through the 90s, fans of independent hardcore punk gave up on the west coast sound altogether and focused on offshoots of the east coast's centre, which was not new york but dc (dave grohl included, for roughly five minutes). people that found the west coast sound to be a fun and enjoyable way to explore political questions, and offshoots of the dc sound to mostly be noisy garbage, found themselves without a punk scene to really grasp hold of.
night birds aren't the most politically interesting act in the world. i caught the dude in a misfits shirt, which was probably intentional, given that it's sort of a faux pas on the punk left. but it's been a long time since i've heard a punk act like this rock like this.
this record is not quite as strong as the last one, but nonetheless belongs in any best of 2013 list. and maybe i'm hoping this isn't just a retro act appealing to a certain nostalgia, but the launch of a revival of sorts...
...'cause punk needs more than a thousand awkward teenagers trying to be ian mackeye (with or without eyeliner).
http://night-birds.bandcamp.com/album/born-to-die-in-suburbia
