PHILADELPHIA is a city that knows how to properly rock, dirt under its nails, filthy fuckin’ fuzz in its heart.
With the news that Philly headz Bardo Pond are getting a silver jubilee expanded repress for their ’96 psychotropic masterpiece Amanita, comes news from more of the city’s favourite prodigally noisy sons, Birds of Maya; I mean, eight years since we got all greasy with the longform, two-track Celebration; Christ alive, eleven since Ready To Howl, during which time, of course, Mike Polizze got himself all seduced by the Purling Hiss project with Ben Leapheart joining him over there; Drag City, of course, released that offshoot’s most recent trio of albums, Water On Mars, Weirdon and High Bias.
Which is kinda handy, since that most prolific and vital of Midwest labels is bringing forth unto us Birds of Maya’s first long-player in eight years, and by the sounds of “BFIOU”, the video for which we’ve got right here, right now, they’ve got all the good filth goin’ back on: fireHOSE, the Ashetons, Iommi, superfuzz pedals banked up. Sludge. Distortion. Vocals one-take and straight from the messy soul.
They’ve done the occasional low-key live excursion in the eight-year interregnum, mostly on home turf; kickin’ back, kickin’ out the jams. Were these particular fuzz-feathered friends gone for good?
Nope. Even though arrangements as a band were a bit looser, they kept meticulous recordings of everything they knocked out of the park sonically, all there to mull over when the time was right.
Actually, Valdez itself has been in the can, pretty much, for seven years; it was laid down in Black Dirt Studios, north-west of New York, following a Purling Hiss sesh. Unearthing old cassettes, they brought jams to life with a little spit and polish; – just a little, you understand. The grime is the goodness. You know that.
And the time is right. They is full of sass and spit and they want you now.
Birds of Maya’s Valdez will be released by Drag City digitally and on vinyl on June 25th – you can order your copy from the label direct, here.
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