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BiRd-BrAiNs Image
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 17 Ratings

  • Summary: This is the debut album for the Canadian singer-songwriter Merrill Garbus.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. In far fewer listens than you'd expect, BiRd-BrAiNs sheds its outer shell of defensive harshness and becomes an easy, enjoyable and addictive listen.
  2. If you relish a challenge, and like music to brace you as much as entertain you, then this should fit the bill. Like no-one else very much, but very much herself, it is one woman's raw, open and compelling testament.
  3. Few debut albums are audacious enough to call to mind Odetta, M.I.A., and the Raincoats--often all at the same time--but this is just such a rare bird.
  4. On this record, Merril Garbus manages the impressive feat of condensing much of the decade’s more interesting musical trends into one very well delivered tapestry.
  5. Garbus’s peculiarities are often quite charming--often, not always, because there’s only so much so-called cute we can be expected to tolerate, and though Bird-Brains remains on the side of acceptability, it flies dangerously close to the line (er, wire).
  6. For all of BiRd-BrAiNs’ quick sonic and melodic digressions, along with Garbus’ tendency to be vocally abrasive and erratically tempered more often than not, most listeners will still find that the primary obstacle to enjoying this record begins and ends with the method of its recording.
  7. The sub-demo quality's most annoying attribute is the blocky digital clipping that happens whenever the voice recorder is overloaded, which is often. So if you don't have a tolerance for cut-rate sonics--and this isn't even the warm analog stuff--forget about it. But if you do, the best songs on BiRd-BrAiNs can sneak up on you.

See all 8 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Aug 24, 2014
    9
    Despite its logical lo-fi flaws and controversies, BiRd-BrAiNs functions clearly well since we find heavily complicated song structures thatDespite its logical lo-fi flaws and controversies, BiRd-BrAiNs functions clearly well since we find heavily complicated song structures that are, at the same time, very easy to comprehend and acquire. And everything turns even better with Merrill's exquisite and schizophrenic voice mixing effortlessly with an established and cohesive set of songs. An audacious and successful debut album. Expand