Birthmarks by Bambara (Wharf Cat Records)

Bambara
Birthmarks
Wharf Cat

The night is as sharp as a knife fight and you can taste the jealousy in the air. Bourbon drenched in the back seat, this is the vibrancy you feel with Bambara’s Birthmarks.

Embracing the night like Girls Vs. Boys once embraced New York City, you get one part sinister and one part sexual.

It’s not all dangerous, but “Pray For Me” has a rhythm that will make you think twice before taking the joyride. It’s the same feeling when I first experienced Depeche Mode’s Songs of Faith and Devotion. For Bambara, the night means everything, and in their music, we are invincible.

I absolutely love the noir elements from the album, the shadows and the light in their texture and intensity in the way they contort rock with dance. It’s how they can emit a song like “Letters From Sing Sing,” a song that’s the soundtrack to provocative passion and a film score to your darkest desires.

“Elena’s Dream” exists in a Lynchian universe where every word feels like the end of the world. How the music serves as punctuation is brilliant. It’s so easy to lost in the feeling, the careful thought into its dynamics, and the way these three work flawlessly together. What began in Athens, Georgia, ended up deep in the underbelly of Gotham and that metropolitan sacrifice to the night is exactly what they needed to present a Bukowski-esque night out on the town.

“Dive Shrine” may be GVSB on adrenaline (a jaw on the floor rager), but the quintessential song on the album is “Face Of Love`.” Teaming up with Madeline Johnsong (Midwife), the song is a perfect example as to what this band can accomplish and the way they can expand a concept beyond expectations. It sneaks up on you. The vocals blur neon with concrete that flirts with both post rock and dream pop all in the same breath.

There is so much talent that lies within just this album, it’s scary and sometimes overwhelming. But that’s the relationship you have to form with Birthmarks because it will come back to haunt you. The vinyl version only amplifies the drugged-out late night glaze with a visual experience and a poster-sized version of the band covered in blue tint.