National Music Reviews
Tweak Bird
Any Ol’ Way
Let’s Pretend
Street: 05.20
Tweak Bird = Later
Mudhoney + Rated R-era Queens of the Stone Age + Dead Meadow + Can
Nope, “Tweak Bird” ain’t a euphemism for your meth-head uncle. It’s a duo of stoned Los Angeles–bred brothers making delicious, tuneful fuzz-rock. In fact, Any Ol’ Way has already been described as a vehicle for the brothers to advance their beliefs, which presently consist of “peace, marijuana, individual freedoms and not taking ourselves too seriously.” Comparisons to Nashville’s JEFF the Brotherhood seem particularly unavoidable, so I won’t try, but they’ve got a similar blueprint—songs are compelling in their simplicity, drawing you in with a lackadaisical innocence that belches into a gooey, sprawling mass o’ riff cakes n’ amp-sauce once you’re hooked. The album highlight is “She Preach”—dig the saxophones—while “A Sign of Badness” calls upon the loud-pop of under-appreciated noise mongers Karp to peddle its wares and “Builder” serves as an interstitial keyboard layer. Are you sick of your Barnes & Noble coworkers ruining Torche for you? Step back. Tweak Bird’s got this. –Dylan Chadwick
Any Ol’ Way
Let’s Pretend
Street: 05.20
Tweak Bird = Later
Mudhoney + Rated R-era Queens of the Stone Age + Dead Meadow + Can
Nope, “Tweak Bird” ain’t a euphemism for your meth-head uncle. It’s a duo of stoned Los Angeles–bred brothers making delicious, tuneful fuzz-rock. In fact, Any Ol’ Way has already been described as a vehicle for the brothers to advance their beliefs, which presently consist of “peace, marijuana, individual freedoms and not taking ourselves too seriously.” Comparisons to Nashville’s JEFF the Brotherhood seem particularly unavoidable, so I won’t try, but they’ve got a similar blueprint—songs are compelling in their simplicity, drawing you in with a lackadaisical innocence that belches into a gooey, sprawling mass o’ riff cakes n’ amp-sauce once you’re hooked. The album highlight is “She Preach”—dig the saxophones—while “A Sign of Badness” calls upon the loud-pop of under-appreciated noise mongers Karp to peddle its wares and “Builder” serves as an interstitial keyboard layer. Are you sick of your Barnes & Noble coworkers ruining Torche for you? Step back. Tweak Bird’s got this. –Dylan Chadwick