The Birthday Suit is a self-described side project of Rod Jones of Idlewild, and he's brought along a lot of what's great about Idlewild... and added a female vocalist, Jacqueline Irvine, to help with some harmonies. Big rock guitar riffs and overwhelming harmonies abound.
Here's "Do You Ever":
The Birthday Suit - Do You Ever? by abadgeoffriendship
Check out the guitar intro and the lush choruses throughout the second track, "Hope Me Home":
This song goes big, not only in the guitars but the bass, pounding drumbeats and the harmony vocals as they repeat the chorus over and over. It's a pretty familiar formula, but makes for good listening when done right. "They Say I Love You" is a ballad which starts out with pretty sparse instrumentation but builds throughout with strings, guitar and again, those strong harmony vocals. "On My Own" is pretty much what you'd expect from an Idlewild side project - fast, big guitar sounds, propulsive drumming and plaintive vocals.
I love the guitar tone on this record, and there's also a bit of country rock sound here and there... check out track 6, "Are You Ok?", for one example. The record ends on a very pretty note, a country rock ballad with nicely played piano and male/female vocals. Jones leads the first half, and Irvine leads the second half, and she's got a really nice voice. Pretty unexpected, and nicely-played.
They're going on tour in the UK soon:
February Tour 2012
Friday 10th - Legends Rock Club, Newcastle
Friday 17th - Coast, Arbroath
Saturday 18th - Tunnels, Aberdeen
Sunday 19th - King Tut's, Glasgow
Friday 24th - The Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh
Sunday 26th - The End, Birmingham
Monday 27th - The Garage, London
Tuesday 28th - Fibbers, York
Wednesday 29th - The Ruby Lounge, Manchester
We never get tired of excellent Scottish rock. You ought to know that about us by now.
The Birthday Suit Website
The Birthday Suit at A Badge of Friendship
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