• Record Label: 429
  • Release Date: Feb 24, 2009
Metascore
64

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 13
  2. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. 60
    When he’s in command, Barzelay seldom feels the need to be so subtle. But don’t sweat the details and many of the tracks will fall into place eventually.
  2. The melodies and arrangements, spiked with trombone and banjo, are simultaneously edgy and refined.
  3. It’s a challenging album, with few of the catchy moments that have marked the band’s earlier work, but one that seems to offer a subtle new reward with each listen.
  4. Q Magazine
    60
    This exquisitely downbeat album of droll heartbreak songs once again confirms that there is a certain knack to creating uplifting musical misery, and spectacularly-named frontman Eeef Barzelay has that knack in spades. [Jun 2009, p.119]
  5. While having Clem Snide back is cause for excitement, the album that nearly killed the band for good probably wasn't the best choice for a comeback vehicle.
  6. There is a resigned quality to Hungry Bird that stands in sharp contrast with the sprightly, slightly goofy tack the band took on 2001's career highlight The Ghost of Fashion.
  7. Hungry Bird is tired, unvaried and dull, possibly because the band’s dissolved and reformed many times since 1991, with singer/songwriter/guitarist Eef Barzelay the only constant.
  8. Under The Radar
    40
    The arrangements are too cumbersome to stand in service of the underdeveloped songs, relegating Clem Anide's delayed finale as further testament to their unfulfilled potential. [Winter 2009, p.70]

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