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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Birds Make Good Neighbors
by The Rosebuds


8.4

based on 12 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 7 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

The North Carolina husband-and-wife duo of Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp return with a second album, produced by Brian Paulson.

LABEL:	Merge
RELEASE DATE:	13 September 2005
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Indie, Rock

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Entertainment Weekly

Wondrously echoes the somber strains of Yo La Tengo and the more timid tendencies of the Arcade Fire. [23 Sep 2005, p.91]

Austin Chronicle

Birds Make Good Neighbors is autumn wrapped up in cashmere: rich, comfortable, welcome.

Pitchfork

A dark, disconcerting record that derives its power from restraint. It's Southern gothic through the filter of Ernest Hemingway, with the frightening stuff left off the page but seeping between the lines.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Their record is all deep twang, railroad rhythms, and innocence reclaimed.

Under The Radar

An album of simple pleasures and the kind of detail that rewards with each listen. [#11, p.116]

Magnet

Even in its most somber moments, Birds is all catchy, all the time. [#69, p.108]

PopMatters

An interesting, unique record.

Splendid

These are love songs destined for indie purgatory -- the emotions are too real for corporate radio, the hooks too poppy for Indie 103.

Amazon.com

A little more subdued than the songs on its firecracker debut, Make Out?, yes, but hardly lacking brains or bite.

Dusted Magazine

Nothing here is as punchy or infectious as Make Out’s “Boys Who Love Girls,” or Unwind’s “You Better Get Ready,” but the bangers aren’t missed; Birds Make Good Neighbors finds a lovely, whisper-quiet continuity to supplant the unevenness of these previous efforts.

Junkmedia

The tunes hop as often as they whimper, with stand-up bass, slap-happy drums and wordless vocals fleshing out the reverb-rich arrangements.

All Music Guide

Unfortunately, the forced and false-sounding songs outnumber these bright spots by a wide margin.

The average user rating for this album is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jonathan P gave it a9:
Darkness and Light. Wonderful melodies and innocent boy-girl harmonies. Very catchy album is chocked full of sing-songy la-la-las that infect your brain. More people should hear the Rosebuds. One of the best of 2005.

Rocky gave it a10:
one of my favs of 2005. perhaps the best band in america that nobody knows about.

Sean T gave it a4:
boring

Will gave it a9:
Unique and infectious. One of the best of the year.

Shirley M gave it a10:
Phenomenol music..... Rock and easy listening at same time. Different from anything I've heard.

Israel B gave it an8:
sweet, melodic and charming at some point. it has its high-lights, although it lacks a climax.

Birds Make Good Neighbors by The Rosebuds

Birds Make Good Neighbors
by The Rosebuds