Theft Of The Commons

Plenty of musicians operate under the premise of duality, but No Bird Sing’s new Theft Of The Commons soars as an experiment in extremes. Imagine a merger of rap and rock, and the first picture you have may be of an unfortunate-looking Fred Durst posing in a backwards cap. This is not No Bird Sing. On the band’s new record, the group warms a pot of contrasting feelings, genres, speeds, and lyrics to a brainy boil. The result is a vibrant sophomore record that feels a bit like a ride on a musical see-saw.

The band’s 2009 eponymous debut dabbled in sad, electric riffs on tracks like “Devil Trombones,” and Theft Of The Commons continues this trajectory with songs like “Night Lights,” a theatrical number that builds into a pulsing, regret-filled anthem. It seems custom-built for good alternative radio, without going so far as to sound like a pre-made soundtrack for a car commercial. One of the debut album’s strengths was its lyrical prowess, and MC Joe Horton, (who performs under the more literary name Eric Blair, CC: George Orwell), continues to pen weighty lyrics that come off as abstract without ever venturing into corny. Dark stand-outs like “Guns For Planes” tease mortality and identity, as a slowed-down Blair echos, “Then I figured I could dip my feather in the sun and write a letter to the genie in my pocket. / That said, I wish I had 99 lives, or at least a little more time with this one.”

Most tracks on the LP dependably build to a climax where vocals, guitar, and drum form a tense marriage. If the disc has a fault, it’s that this similar structuring of songs tends to make them bleed together, rendering the whole a tad predictable. 

But throughout, guitarist Robert Mulrennan sprinkles the hip-hop flow with bluesy, erratic, electric riffs; Drummer Graham O’Brien works as the trio’s theatrical pace car; and Blair’s deep, muscly vocals invite you to a dance on the dark side. The final partnership is an artful one. Theft Of The Commons firmly plants No Bird Sing as an inventive player in conscious hip-hop by delivering all the band’s got, no emotions precluded.