by Laura Wasson
On Monday night, I found myself at the ramshackle Goodbye Blue Monday, which looks like a creepy T.G.I.Friday’s with just as many tchotchkes on the wall, but with a gaggle of be-hooded hipsters smoking out front.
The setting turned out to be perfect for Brighton UK's Birdeatsbaby: a pseudo cabaret-punk act currently on tour in support of their latest album, Feast of Hammers. Refreshingly, they don’t neatly fit into any particular genre: a rare treat in a musical landscape that feels increasingly derivative. At times, they call to mind Dresden Dolls or Gogol Bordello, even a little Foxy Shazam. But, their sound is distinctive, fusing everything from traditional classical melodies to folk and Eastern influences.
Whatever it is, it was exciting to listen to and watch. Lead by Mishkin on keys and vocals, Katha (drums), Garry (bass), and Keely (strings) make a solid group. As they plowed through somber-yet-catchy songs like “I Always Hang Myself with the Same Rope” and “Miserable,” the audience seemed genuinely excited, if a bit stoic. (It was almost midnight on a Monday after all.)
After the show, I went and spoke briefly to Mishkin, telling her how much I enjoyed the set. She thanked me, but admitted that the band couldn’t hear anything from the monitors. "We really had no clue how we sounded," she told me. You would have never known it: they were spot on throughout.