2.22.07 The Wildbirds @ The Echo
Maybe it was all of the Bruce Springsteen and Pretenders I heard around the house growing up, but I will always love the rock, first and foremost, now and forever. Even with so many great new sounds worth getting hot to trot about, I’ll give any ol' rock band a shot, sort of like that sorry, stunted case who hits high school keggers years after graduation.
Recently, that’s meant hearing a bucket of bands weaned on the Johnny Thunders school of rock -- all bluesy guitar and snarling attitude. Some I loved (The Rock ‘n Roll Soldiers, The Black Halos). Others are long gone and forgotten, and good riddance.
But what’s that? A NEW old sound? Yes, indeed. The Wildbirds hit the stage at The Echo on Thursday night replete with an influence that’s heard too little these days: Tom Petty. The sound is a little lighter and more effervescent than the Thunders disciples, built on buoyant baselines made for dancing and infectious melodies just begging to blast from car stereos. Chockablock with mid-‘70s pop rock vim and vigor, the songs have a retro thing going on but manage to be fresh and feisty. Has the band written their “American Girl” or “Refugee” yet? Maybe not. But who has? The songs swing, the guys play their hearts out, and look fab doing it. The quartet hails from Wisconsin, but these are no cheese heads. Think long cool drinks of whiskey, all leather vests, shaggy haircuts and an ease with accessorizing. And what, really, could be more exhilarating than a band of cute, well-clad lads making their stand in the big city? See for yourself; they play the Planetary Group Skewer BBQ on 3.15 at SXSW, and their full-length debut drops in June.
