Radio Birdman

Zeno Beach

(Yep Roc)

Record Review by Jen Tartaglione

An absence of thirty years would leave almost any band stumbling to find its place in musical society.  But such is not the case for the founding fathers of Australian punk, Radio Birdman.  Despite the obvious handicap of not having recorded a studio album in three decades, the old school rockers pick up right where they left off in 1978 and exhibit equal, if not more exuberant, enthusiasm to that of any nineteen-year-old rock star.

Zeno Beach is a surfer’s companion featuring thirteen songs with melodies as rocking as the waves that inspired them.  Experimentation with cascading organs and raw guitar solos give it a vintage edge.  Aggressive tracks such as “Connected” sound as though they are straight out of The Libertines catalogue.  This, in turn, is nicely juxtaposed with mellower riffs on par with Sonic Youth, as evidenced in “Die Like April.”  Meticulous placement is obvious in the pairing of the ominous track “HeyDay” with the chipper “Subterfuge.”  Finally, the title track is a great send off, ending the album on a happy note with its nod to the complacency characterized in ‘60s surf rock (“Here at Zeno Beach/The future’s out of reach/so why don’t we stay here until the end?”)

As a whole, there is a certain flawed rawness that makes Zeno Beach more enjoyable than the whiny, manufactured sound characterizing the Fall Out Boy era.  Most importantly, the album offers a nice contrast to the dance punk trend that seems to be infiltrating the punk scene of late.  What is most striking is that Zeno Beach by no means serves as a shout out to past glories; rather, it functions as a new chapter in the Radio Birdman story.