Album Notes

“…Biirdie shift effortlessly between the countrified balladry of early Wilco, the sunny harmonies of the Elephant 6 collective, and 70's Laurel Canyon guitar pop.” – SPIN

“…dream up fascinating cocktails. One moment they’re delivering creamy harmonies. Then, just when you feel you’ve nailed what they’re at, the threesome toss in an electronic hailstorm or maybe a touch of alt-country hoedown.” - MOJO

Catherine Avenue is the highly anticipated sophomore album from California trio Biirdie, and it's a well-told album of love, infidelity, geography and all things between. The creative efforts of songwriter-singer Jared Flamm, singer Kala Savage (sister of actors Ben and Fred) and drummer, Richard Gowen, have produced a dynamic album full of dreamy piano harmonies, Americana-laden melodies and '70s British vocalism. Catherine Avenue mixes atmospheric pop, country/ western balladry and a twinge of rock kineticism.

The album sounds like a lush combination of Wilco and Pet Sounds, and Flamm sounds like Marc Bolan fronting the Velvet Underground.

Sweet and earnest, the title track is a great opener, with a slowly building arrangement that oozes sentimentality, just trying not to sway to it would be a fruitless endeavor. The cover of the Texas Tornados tune "Who Were You Thinkin' Of" is an update of the Tejano-flavored classic, which is on a subversive level akin to "Afternoon Delight." The banjo-and piano-drenched twang of "Estelle" is toe-tapping enough to make you grab your washboard and spoons. And the epic "Careless and Unconcerned" delivers one of the best lines on the whole album: "Always understand / You only get one turn/ Be careless and unconcerned." - Flagpole, Athens, GA