It's New To Me: Birds Make Good Neighbors by the Rosebuds (2005)

Hand-colored lantern slide titled "Kishon" by the American Colony Photo Department, c. 1940

I remember the first Rosebuds album being a pretty big deal when it came out. The band, primarily composed of married couple Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp of Raleigh, North Carolina, was hailed as some return of "fun" to indie rock. And it's true that their debut, Make Out, has a breezy and light-hearted feel to it - it's easy to see why people were excited to see what they'd do next. But I can't imagine how a band would deliver on this set of expecations - by putting out a sequel that's even more breezy, more fun, and more unthreatening?

So the Rosebuds' second album, Birds Make Good Neighbors, disappointed a lot of people. Reviews called it "subdued" and "forced", and some fans seemed genuinely confused that the band would want to try to expand its sound and reach for a more mature sound. Now that some time is passed, though, I think that Birds Make Good Neighbors is due for a reappraisal. It sounds great to me, better than their debut by a good stretch. And it makes sense in context of Ivan and Kelly's relationship as well - the delirious energy of their first album was part of the giddiness and newness of making music together. Birds Make Good Neighbors is about what happens when the "making out" is done and a relationship has moved on to more intimate things. The album focuses on a few themes (animals, autumn), tying the songs together with a cohesiveness that the debut didn't have, and the songs are only subdued when compared to the pace of Make Out. The album is mostly composed of upbeat pop songs, and most of the new additions to the Rosebuds' sound - particularly Kelly's vocals - make for a more interesting and varied sound. It's not a sleepy-sounding or boring record to my ears.

Birds Make Good Neighbors is getting more appreciation as time goes on - recently, Prefix called it one of the top twenty releases in the history of Merge Records. For me the album's highlights include the rocking "Boxcar" and "The Lovers' Rights", as well as the gentle "Warm Where You Lay". But my favorite song is "Shake Our Tree" - a mid-tempo stomper with fun call-and-response vocals. The idea of young birds building nests together and chirping about having found love is adorable, and it's nice to hear two people sounding excited about what happens next after the newness of love turns into something else.

"Shake Our Tree" by the Rosebuds