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The Windmill, Brixton
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Single/Download Review

Seabirds
Real Tears Matinee Recordings

Article written by Kev W - Sep 17, 2013

People who have a dislike of the indiepop genre will generally use the dreaded "t-word" as their first weapon of defence when attempting to belittle bands who favour this approach. To some people, being labelled as twee isn't an insult, indeed it's the very purpose of their music. Others? Call them twee and you'll be given a look as though you've just beheaded their granny and declared yourself the Antichrist. The last few years in particular have seen indiepop champions retreating for fear of such a tag being pinned on them. What it is about that word and what it says about your character is a discussion for another time, but closet indiepop fans may wish to openly share their love of Seabirds. Coming from Nottingham's currently thriving music scene, 'Real Tears' is their début single and is released on the ever-dependable Matinee imprint.

Indiepop? It sure is. Twee? Maybe some with argue so, but the fuzz of the guitars wipes away any sickly cute notes you may detect from the song. Like fey jangle colliding with early Teenage Fanclub, there's a more solid sound to this track and also its B-side 'Oh Buoy', both of which are cut from the same cloth. The writing is classic of the genre and the sound would be difficult to date if you weren't aware this was a current release. They don't shy away from allowing those guitars to add a bit more crunch and a bit more bite to their melodic pop tunes. Seabirds aren't as straightforward as many bands, and on these fine recordings they give themselves some leeway as to future direction, but for now they should be embraced by a wider range of music fans than their more saccharine cousins.

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/seabirdsband
http://matineerecordings.com/item.php?item_id=239