A year on from their lauded debut, ‘Fly, Them Bird Things, Fly!’, Them Bird Things released this second effort in August, an album continuing the collaboration between the two songwriters Mike Brassard and Steve Blodgett and Finnish singer Salla Day to stunning effect. While ‘Fly, Them Bird Things, Fly!’ was great and deservedly acclaimed, ‘Wildlike Wonder’ is even better, standing out as a more coherent piece with a leaner, acoustically based americana expression, again handled expertly by producer Will Shade.

This, however, does not mean a lack of rocking punches, one example being filthy blues ‘Silver Oldsmobile’ driven forward by awesome harmonica and guitar riffs, and 60s-tinged ‘Underground’ another. Elsewhere ‘Marionette’ – a previously unreleased contribution by songwriter Jake Holmes (Frank Sinatra, The Four Seasons and Led Zeppelin etc) – and ‘Birmingham’ offer psychedelia and Eastern touches, ‘Marie’ and ‘White Lipstick’ give us great balladry in different robes, before country-rocker ‘Georgia Mountain’, a song some 35 years underway to record, ends the album on yet another high note.

When talking about Them Bird Things two things cannot be emphasized enough: Mike Brassard and Steve Blodgett’s truly impressive songwriting and front woman Salla Day’s ditto interpretation and delivery of the songs, this time around touching on grim subjects like suicide, shootings and sorrow. That voice is simply spectacular. However, credit must also go to the band, not least Timo Vikkula, exciting with his intriguing guitar work, and the latest addition to the lineup, multi-instrumentalist Arttu Tolonen, who provides great new nuances with his lap steel and mandolin. All parts in making ‘Wildlike Wonder’ an amazing piece of work.

Genre: Rock
Who: Them Bird Things
Album: Wildlike Wonder
Label: Playground
Year: 2010
Country: Finland
Language: English
DOWNLOAD VIA

Recommended tracks:
Silver Oldsmobile – Marie – Marionette – Birmingham – White Lipstick – Georgia Mountain