The apocalypse is coming and British Birds, hatched via tape loops and cheap nylon stringed guitars, are providing the soundtrack. But not in the wretched way you might think. No- disco bass, thumping drums and earwormy vintage synth bolster frontman Bobby’s staunch, stylistic guitar and theatric, cathartic lyricism- the sort of soundscape that’ll get you out of any end-of-world scenario alive and hopping.
It’s in the dreary, normally drizzly, market town of Chorley this four-piece meticulously crafts their psychedelic racket, all from within the soundproofed walls of their makeshift art-house-apocalypse-bunker. From the outside, it’s an inconspicuous canal-side garage but inside is a nucleus; all wonky and botched up.
British Birds were formed in 2023 after the closure of frontman Bobby Mambo’s DIY venue Brock n Broll HQ which hosted acts such as Burger Records’ Boytoy of New York, Salt Lake City’s Max Pain & The Groovies, Castrovalva of Leeds, Manchester-based Fruit Tones, and Hannes Ferm from Stockholm. Bobby proceeded to piece together his new space with screen printing facilities and a recording studio which is largely built around his love of analogue equipment. This place provided the anvil and hammer to British Birds’ debut LP In Search of Mr Rykyn, a self-reflective, self-made, self-released record, released in February 2024, full of swirling melody, nostalgic sensibility and unshakable melancholy.
Since then, the four-piece band made up of frontman Bobby Mambo, bassist Ellie Winstanley, keyboard player Emma Townson and drummer Mike Ainsley, have hit up and packed out major venues including London’s Islington Assembly Hall, Junction 1 in Cambridge, Cluny in Newcastle and The Crescent in York, during tour support slots for the likes of DIY legends The Lovely Eggs, garage rockers The Bug Club and prolific shoegazers Pale Blue Eyes.
British Birds have since released a high-energy and off-kilter six track EP, Sucking Funny, which serves as a demonstration of their noisy, wild, mad-cowbell infused live performances.
Both their releases, along their their multitude of standalone singles, have gained them kudos and airtime globally, most notably three coveted live sessions on BBC 6 Music’s Riley & Coe show, spots on Emily Pilbeans monthly BBC Introducing Mixtape, and plays across the water on world famous stations such as KEXP and WFMU. Louder Than War’s Nathan Whittle gave the album a ⅘ star review, and William Wolstenholme from BBC Introducing Lancashire, who selected “My Bar” to showcase the band on his BBC Radio 2 live show with Jo Whiley.
A bountiful 2025 lies ahead for British Birds, with their first twelve-date headline tour to look forward to in Autumn, to celebrate the release of their second album Silence Daedalus, self-made and self-released as ever, and out on the 15th June 2025. 500 vinyl copies will be available via bandcamp and in select record stores across the UK.
