TWO WOUNDED BIRDS

Last night we met Two Wounded Birds, of Margate, at the Bull and Gate in Kentish Town. The band were in town to promote their double A-Side single All We Wanna Do/Midnight Waves, which is released on the 18th April by Moshi Moshi. Their sound hearkens back to the golden era of rock n roll and pop: think The Tornadoes, Ricky Nelson and The Ronettes. The band played an intense set of two-minute gems, whilst Johnny Danger, the singer, held an anachronistic and sinister presence, which served to personify the bands dark sound. 

We spoke with the band before the show:

You’ve been branded as ‘surf-pop’ quite heavily. As your sound develops do you find yourself becoming frustrated with this label? 

Johnny: That tags been around for a while, a lot of people use that. We’re not really making surf-pop. If you listen to us we’re much deeper than that. 

Ally: I don’t really mind the tag, if people want to call us that they can. 

Does your sound take inspiration from that genre? 

Johnny: I’m into the late 50’s/early 60’s Beach Boys scene, it’s a really nice sound. 

Has Margate influenced your fondness for it? 

Johnny: Being by the sea helps. 

Tom: We’re into all sorts of Americana really.

I think I can hear The Libertines in the guitars on the new single. Is that another band you’re in to? 

Tom: Yeah, I love the Libertines but I think its more The Ramones. They love the whole New York thing. They did a really good cover of Stones’ Out of Time. 

Ally: I think with The Ramones, we didn’t really listen to them until people said we sounded like them. 

Your video is shot in Margate and you recorded in Rochester. Is this a conscious effort to endorse Kent’s music scene?

Tom: Yeah, it’s important to big up where your from, it’s a nice place. 

Ally: We like having people involved who understand where we’re coming from. And we like helping out our friends. 

Johnny: We’re really meticulous about where we record, we need to get the right sound. I think a lot of bands don’t think about that when they’re producing a record. With us, we really like that Phil Spector/Brian Wilson technique of making a record sound really big.

Ally: Our sound engineer, Jim Riley is really good. 

You’ve just finished touring with The Drums. You must have some good anecdotes?

Johnny: Nothing we can share.

Tom: We’ve signed a contract! 

Where’s next? Is this show part of a tour? 

Johnny: No, we’re doing a couple of one off gigs, then we’re playing Camden Crawl. 

Is there anything you want to say that hasn’t been said?

Tom: Buy the single, Midnight Waves, out on the 18th April.