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Retreating to a secluded cabin in the Michigan woods while warmed by the glow of their beloved city across the lake, Hummingbiird (once Chicago’s Pedal Steel Transmission) has emerged from the wilderness armed with a startlingly unique and vibrant artifact. My Bloody Valentine textures lay on top of Marmalade grooves, Youngbloods optimism, even 2 minute Pavement jaunts. Following up 2003’s critically acclaimed “Angel of the Squared Circle”, this album is the sound of a band that has hit its stride. “Homesic and Sunburnt” and “Nuclear Winter” gently hypnotize and wrap us in warm cocoons of blissful tone and sweet vocal harmony, while “Speak Softly” and “No Need to Go” invite us on a wild ride of soaring anthem and cavernous bombast. Roger Moutenot (long time Yo La Tengo producer) handled mixing duties on the release, his influence felt throughout in the record’s infectious vibrancy and subtle psychedelia. From first track to last, the album exudes a quiet confidence that hits a perfect balance of organic drone and maddeningly hook-laden song writing.
Hummingbiird is Brett Barton, Don Ogilvie, Gary Pyskacek and Dan Schneider
Related: Pedal Steel Transmission, The Singleman Affair, Mean Sea Level, The Part Five
discogrophy
cs007 Hummingbiird
This album is the new destination of the ex-Pedal Steel Transmission, recorded by the band in seclusion in a Michigan cabin and mixed by longtime Yo La Tengo producer Roger Moutenot in Nashville. Gritty and tight psych workouts laced with an american romance and the occasional towering guitar solo. A live and airy document of a band in transition.
More Details
1. Whisper To Chlorine 3:40
2. Homesic and Sujnburned 5:36
3. Kill My Imagination 1:47
4. Speak Softly 7:31
5. Nuclear Winter 8:33
6. Lilting 4:17
7. Beat The Zombies 3:27
8. Lyme Disease 3:53
9. No Need To Go 5:05
10. Settin Sun 4:49
press
“…the album is packed with wistful, melodic jangle and hum, rumble and roar. Highly recommended for disillusioned Wilco fans.”
Shake Your Fist
“…Music snobs the internet over have been lamenting the death of rock-n-roll, that there is no new sound to take us by storm, and that everything is derivative nowadays, but this snob feels that Hummingbiird is one of those rare bands that has been able to mix their diverse musical influences and blend them into a sound of their own instead of just mimicking them.”
Chicagoist
“At any given moment, the music may evoke anything from Ennio Morricone to The Cure to the Allmans to the Kinks to what have you.”
Fool in the Forest
“This is as honest as music gets – good songs, well told, with no artifice.”
Mike Rea ACE (UK)
