Release Date Apr 27, 2010
OMAHA, Nebraska
United States
1. What We Gained In the Fire
2. Let the Record Go
3. Numbers Don'T Lie
4. Give It Time
5. Ways of Looking
6. La Rain
7. Wash It Out
8. We Made a Mountain
9. Right Place
10. Good Heart
Myspace Artist Site
The Mynabirds - "Numbers Don't Lie" (from the album What We Lose in the Fire, We Gain in the Flood)
The Mynabirds - "L.A. Rain" (from the album What We Lose in the Fire, We Gain in the Flood)
Singer/songwriter Laura Bernhem joined up with producer/instrumentalist Richard Swift last year to form The Mynabirds. Together they've created What We Lose In the Fire We Gain in the Flood (April 27, Saddle Creek), a retro-styled collaborative debut that has echoes of another famous pairing: Welsh singer Aimee Duffy and producer Bernard Butler for the monstrously successful '08 album Rockferry. Both Bernhem and Duffy have a fondness for classic R+B tinged girl-group pop, 60's blond 'do's and distinctive, neo-Dusty voices (though Bernhem's doesn't go for the exaggerated pouty edge that Duffy perfects). The Mynahbirds sound has been described as "nodding to gospel and garage" and Fire/Flood does indeed explore that classic mix, looking to find that self-described "Neil Young doing Motown" sound. The aspirations here are modest -- and we're not looking at a breakout work on a par with Rockferry or the Amy Winehouse arc -- but this is an album that feels comfortable, loose and spirited.
As with any highly stylized-sounding album, the fear is that the revivalist trappings will overly dominate. Fortunately, Bernhem's songwriting skills give the debut substantial legs to stand on independent of the time-travel production. Lead track "Numbers Don't Lie", a sly and soulful song that manages to make a big sound feel completely accessible, sets the tone but it's "L.A. Rain" that really tugs on the proverbial sleeve: a rumbling, rambling bass line, classic backbeat guitar riff and killer chorus hook converge for an exceptionally skin-tight fit.
