The Rosebuds Album: "Birds Make Good Neighbors" Release Date: Oct 11, 2005 Label: Merge Rock-Rev Value: [7.5/10] Genre: Rock Styles: Indie Rock Buy It

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review by: Pitchfork
reviewer: Karen A. Mann
Allmusic Album Value: (8.1/10)

What happened to the Rosebuds?

When we first met singer/guitarist Ivan Howard and keyboardist/vocalist Kelly Crisp, they were blowing peppy power-pop smooches to each other on Make Out, gagging the cynical and wooing the goo-goo-eyed with Pixie Stix hooks and lyrics like "First time I kissed you, I almost died." Their outlook wasn't completely, err, rosy-- there were songs about sad drunks and a few hints of heartbreak-- but it was clear that this was a married couple utterly enthralled with their Big, Big Love.

There's nothing wrong with Big, Big Love, or Pixie Stix hooks, but the Rosebuds weren't particularly good at either. Thankfully, their second full-length, Birds Make Good Neighbors, is a dark, disconcerting record that derives its power from restraint. It's Southern gothic through the filter of Ernest Hemingway, with the frightening stuff left off the page but seeping between the lines. There's a lot of love in these songs, but it's love in the face of a common enemy.

"And we'll get by/ And we tell ourselves one more time/ We get by/ And we brace ourselves and hold our hands and fight," Howard sings on the opening song, "Hold Hands and Fight". But it isn't a triumphant vow or some kind of pep talk. The music is ominous, with piano, tambourine, and stand-up bass throbbing quietly, haltingly. Howard's voice wobbles, slipping between notes. When the chorus swoops in with a gang of muted oohs and whoas, it sounds like the Arcade Fire, if the Arcade Fire were very, very scared. (...)

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review by: Stylus
reviewer: Mike Mineo
Allmusic Album Value: (B-)

One must imagine how the atmosphere must be on tour or in the studio if you're in a band with your husband, wife, brother, or sister. Bickering must be the norm, right? Well, if you look in the direction of the success of The Arcade Fire (husband and wife) or The Fiery Furnaces (brother and sister), it may seem that the musical chemistry is extraordinary—that genuine relationships often create genuine music. The Rosebuds are no different. The husband and wife duo of Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp, along with drummer Billy Alphin, present a simplistic yet effective approach of guitar, keyboards, and drums drenched over Howard's smooth, bluesy vocals.

It's seems that the touring that The Rosebuds have been doing of late with Teenage Fanclub has rubbed off: tracks like "Boxcar" and "The Lovers' Rights" reveal an obvious influence. "Boxcar," for example, plys its trade on a simple guitar riff and catchy chorus: "But I'm not crazy, I'm just a little boy, and you're not crazy, you're just a little girl," which upon hearing many will find stuck in their head for quite some time. It’s not the lyrics, though, that work as much as it is the music: the brilliant hooks throughout Birds Make Good Neighbors make up for any lack of lyrical progression from their previous work. And musically, the song remains the same: The Rosebuds once again easily meld different sounds across the album, much like TheRosebudsMakeOut did, with its line-up of half-acoustic songs and half-upbeat electric tunes. Here, the only difference is the addition of the aforementioned blues. (...)

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review by: Allmusic
reviewer: Tim Sendra
Allmusic Album Value: (3/5)

The Rosebuds' first album, 2003's The Rosebuds Make Out, was a fun album, indie rock at its most lighthearted and breezy. In the time since then, the duo of vocalist/guitarist Ivan Howard and keyboardist/vocalist Kelly Crisp have discovered subtlety and sadness, it seems. The songs are coated with a layer of almost gothic gloom and smeared with glossy acoustic guitars and clichéd arrangements, Howard's vocals (one of the bands' strong points) sound detached and morose for the most part, and the band seem to have sacrificed their freshness and spark for a misguided attempt at emotional heft. On Birds Make Good Neighbors, the unbridled punch of the first album is pretty much gone, as instead the band have opted for a layered and adult sound with loads of the aforementioned acoustic guitars, lounge-y electric pianos, and cottony reverb to match the arty and somewhat arch lyrics. Songs about birds, ancient promises, boxcars, and falling leaves may sound good in the hands of someone like Nick Cave, maybe, but in the Rosebuds' grip seem ill-fitting. The band sounded much more at ease on their first album and the more subdued yet still energetic and light EP (2004's The Rosebuds Unwind) that followed, much more energetic and focused. That's not to say that there aren't some fine songs here like the rollicking "Hold Hands and Fight," "The Lover's Rights," which bops along like an indie rock take on Motown, and the pounding and peppy "Shake Our Tree" to name a few. Unfortunately, the forced and false-sounding songs outnumber these bright spots by a wide margin. In a sad trade-off, the band's desire to make a more emotionally powerful and thoughtful record has sapped their strengths and partially ruined what was good about them (their high energy sound, their gleeful innocence, and their knack for sharp and catchy hooks) to begin with.

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review by: Glide Magazine
reviewer: Garin Pirnia
Allmusic Album Value: (-/-)

The Rosebuds are one of those charming indie bands emerging from the storied North Carolina scene featuring such legends as Superchunk and Archers of Loaf. In 2003, husband and wife duo Kelly Crisp and Ivan Howard released their affable debut, The Rosebuds Make Out, which wavers between giddy lush ‘60s inspired pop music and emotive love tunes. But on their second outing, Birds Make Good Neighbors, the couple segue in a different direction. Gone are the infectious fun-loving hooks that made their debut so lofty only to be replaced with earnest and dubious ballads questioning relationships and love. Several of the songs contain sing songy/rhyming lyrics about eternal youth and metaphorical songs about nature and birds. (...)



Full Review

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review by: Redalert
reviewer: Karen A. Mann
Allmusic Album Value: (-/-)

You probably shouldn't listen to The Rosebuds' new CD, Birds Make Good Neighbors, if you're going through a break-up. Really. Ivan Howard's plaintive crooning, paired with an overall jangly ominousness throughout, is enough to bring tears to your eyes — even when he's singing about how everything is wonderful and right with his lover. Maybe that's because there's always an underlying sense that everything is not right, and that his flowery declarations are masking some well-founded fears that this relationship, like so many others before, is going to end in a heart-rending, gory mess.

On their first full length, The Rosebuds Make Out (Merge, 2003), and this year's follow-up EP, The Rosebuds Unwind, the band showed a flair for winsome love songs full of vaguely-psychedelic hooks. The hooks are still there, courtesy of Howard's reverb-laden surf guitar, and keyboard player/vocalist Kelly Crisp's understated keyboard playing. A husband-and-wife duo, Howard and Crisp sing beautifully together, which is a good thing because there are quite a few sing-alongs in which they trade off of each other. Of note is "Shake Our Tree," a hand-clapping call-and-response that almost dares you not to like it.

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