I reviewed Birdlips’ Cardboard Wings when it was released in February, but met with singer/guitarist Clifford Usher and singer/keyboardist Lindsay Pitts last week to catch up with the pair for my column in this week’s C-VILLE. A few nights before, they’d played a spectacular show at The Garage—for those of you who haven’t been, I implore you, go now before someone closes the space or, you know, parks there.
Anyways, you can listen to tunes from Cardboard Wings by clicking here. Below, read some comments from Usher and Pitts about the songs on Cardboard Wings that you won’t find in C-VILLE. Give the tunes a listen and leave your own thoughts.
Not what you’d call "flappers": Birdlips talks about their spectacular record, Cardboard Wings.
"Tire Chains," the song featured as NPR’s "Song of the Day" on July 23
Usher: "That was the first song that Lindsay and I wrote together…That’s the song that’s most indicative of where we’re headed now."
"Scarecrow," in which I compliment Usher’s pitch-perfect whistling
Usher: "That one I wrote in Spain, shortly after I went over there [to study abroad in Valencia]. I had a lot of time when I was overseas to…"
Pitts: "To whistle?"
Usher: "I kinda had this idea that I would try to write an album’s worth of songs that were really simple. Instead of focusing on guitar riffs, I would focus on vocal melodies over relatively simple chord changes."
"Some Kind of Death," a Feedback favorite that gets a noticeable makeover during live sets
Usher: "There was a lot of experimentation. We were trying to figure out how we were going to recreate these sounds. At one point, we each had half a drum set. I had a kick drum and Lindsay had a snare and some cymbals."
"Dream Within a Dream," the album’s finale
Usher [to Pitts]: "What did I tell you? Like, ‘come up with something that sounds Middle Eastern?’ ‘Make a melody that sounds wrong at first, but the more you listen to it, the more right it sounds.’"
Pitts: "’Play something that sounds like it’s from another country.’"
It’s a good week for Birdlips, apparently: The pair got a bit more love at Washington Times from UVA grad Andrew Leahey.
