Birds Of Avalon

North Carolina's Birds Of Avalon crank into a host of retro sounds without really wrapping it up in a tidy category, putting familiar sounds into a pleasingly unstable mix. The group's second album, 2009’s Uncanny Valley, freaks out where the 2008 EP Outer Upper Inner left off, at once prancing through fanciful melodies (perhaps inspired by Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd) and thrusting forth a metal-meets-garage heaviness that sometimes bursts into trippy heroics (as on Outer's great track, "Earthbound"). This all-over-the-place songwriting can make Birds a frustrating listen at times, but its live sets make for plenty of classic-rock gratification.

Updated 04/01/2010