At first I thought there was another trend in digital music technology – a scratch and sniff CD – because I swore I smelled roses when playing the latest from this North Carolina duo The Rosebuds. Then dummy me, I realized that it was the actual roses sitting on my desk. Boy did I feel silly.
The fact that it isn’t often I have flowers around is my only excuse, so I wasn’t quite used to the fragrant aroma. But I have to say, Birds Make Great Neighbors is fresh as a daisy, taking me back to my days of doing flips on the monkey bar without the safety of shorts and showing off my new Tuesday, ruffled panties with pride and glee.
Although I don’t necessarily agree with the title, because as we all know, a crow outside your window is not a good sign. A woodpecker can wreak havoc on your brain after a Saturday night. And pigeons, we all know what they’re good at. But if you take the concept into the world of Disney movies that we all grew up with where doves coo and snuggle, it makes perfect sense.
We’re talking love birds and hop scotch rhythms, bouncing in a bar with a lollipop as they burst out the cherry-on-top tracks like “Lover’s Rights,” “Boxcar” or the holding hand with your best friend ditty “Shake Our Tree.”
The Rosebuds – Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp – have two things going on that admire in addition to their songwriting and performance skills. They spend all their time together as a married couple, working and touring (something that few can do) and they were also able to pull together five new songs when first starting out in order to get in on their first gig. Kudos on all accounts.
They also have a line in the sleepy song “Warm Where You Lay” that speaks to me personally, “It’s okay to take days off when you work as much we do / And that’s the truth.” It’s just something I’ve had a problem doing – some of you, especially you self employed folks all know what I’m talking about.
For lovers of pop rock, this one’s for you. I for one am a card carrying member and look forward to having The Rosebuds in Denver playing at the Hi-Dive Saturday, October 1 with our own pop stars, The Maybellines and Thank God For Astronauts.
