The Birthday Cakes - Romper Room

You can call me a tyrannical snob of the biological hierarchy if you wish, but I really enjoy being a human being. For while it's true that we may not be particularly strong (with the possible exceptions of Phil Pfister & Carrot Top) or agile; and that we don't have any ass-jets with which to weave geometrically perfect designs out of silk; and that, unlike snakes, we can't perceive infrared light with special eyes in the roofs of our mouths, we do possess a number of qualities that I, as a sentient being, would be unable to do without.

One of these very special qualities is the ability to create, seemingly out of nothing, truly novel things. Now, this doesn't happen quite as much as perhaps it should, but it is my firm belief that most, if not all reasonably clear-headed (and quite a few not-so-clear-headed) people are capable of this feat. And so it is refreshing, and re-affirming of my belief that humans are a special bunch, that Sudbury, Ontario's The Birthday Cakes have dedicated their young lives to producing such novel, refreshing and imaginative rock.

The album is called Romper Room, and it's not particularly new at this point in time--in fact the band have produced a number of recordings since RR came out way back in 2008, but I think that as their only extent full-length to date, it's a good place to start with introducing this kooky three-piece.

The band consists of three brothers: Cameron, Clayton and Carter, but rest assured, this isn't The Moffats. I was first introduced to the band back in August, when my band was billed to open for them on their cross-Canada summer tour. I gobbled up all of their available recordings as soon as I heard about them, and by the time the show rolled around I was quite familiar with much of their material. I was excited to play with them, knowing that I was in for something out of the ordinary, and it's always an honour to be associated with something truly unique.

It's difficult to really describe TBCs' music without detracting from what I feel is its true intent: it's true, it is post-pop; it's also true that it doesn't take itself too seriously and that the lyrical content of many of the songs will have you smiling at their absurd nature, but there's something else going on here as well. Though Romper Room is really a record made by not overly-skilled musicians in the nadir of their development, both as writers and performers, it's already tapping into a raw creativity that is so absent in much of the underground or indie music of today. A lot of bands try very hard to be different, and well they should; but, unfortunately, a lot of bands are not nearly as willing to be as frank and honest with themselves as TBC are in their songwriting, and so the attempt at true creativity comes off as contrived.

Not so here, where a 40-second song about a peanut butter factory makes no apologies for its own existence. Nor does the song about the ineffectual assault of a ghost bear upon an unsuspecting victim (its claws go right through him, natch). They simply are.

Don't get me wrong: this isn't the secret, long-lost definitive album of the last decade. There has been greater genius in the world, for sure. But where so many bands try with limp wrists to be different, to be quirky while maintaining artistic viability, and fail, The Birthday Cakes are succeeding. To be honest, I think a lot of it can be chalked up to simple naiveite; there's every indication that they may, in fact, be apeing some existing sound (who isn't?). But they do so in such a way that makes me feel like I'm really listening to something that doesn't come around every day.

As the three lads develop as musicians, there's no saying what will become of their band. Quite a lot of the charm of this album exists in its lack of spit & polish, and its complete absence of anything that would provide a trained musician for than a moment's difficulty in playing. Speaking from personal experience, it can be a real dilemma in the songwriting process to resist the idea that "more complex=better." There's a real feeling that as these guys grow up, learn more chords, and discover that Jimi Hendrix really was that good, the honesty of this type of output will be lost, or will simply become somehow inappropriate.

For now, though, it's a sonic treat to sit down to a record that's so earnestly playful, and can exist without pretense or apology. As I said before, I have listened to later output from these guys, and while this review is not about those recordings, I can assure the reader that this is a band that is developing and further refining their songwriting as they go. So rest assured: if you invest yourself into this band, it will be an investment that will continue, I think, to pay dividends in the coming years.