Beijing band Birdstriking kicked off their first North American tour in Los Angeles yesterday, in support of the re-release of their 2012 debut album Birdstriking, on Brian Jonestown Massacre frontman Anton Newcombe’s label A Recordings on June 2. They play Brooklyn’s Baby’s All Right (which seems to be New York home for Chinese bands passing through New York City) on June 15 (tickets on sale now) with familiar and new songs. See below for the complete list of tour dates.
The band, whose members met at a Carsick Cars concert, is reminsecent of Ride, Swervedriver, and The Jesus and Mary Chain,, with their blend of psychedelic, noise, shoegaze punctuated with fuzz and textured with flanger. However, whereas many of the Western post-punk and 90s bands that influenced Beijing’s indie sound droned, simmered, or seethed with disaffection, Birdstriking, frank and forward-looking, spins a positive determination. In an interview with Brown Noise Unit, vocalist and guitarist He Fan (何凡) explained:
“I always thought that young people should be angry. Don’t wait to calm down, we should express it, we should think about what is hiding behind things like social status, social issues, and ideology. These are world issues that every country experiences. In all countries, people have to face it sooner or later. So when we have an open mind, when we become active, we can begin to imagine, if we try to make a positive change within ourselves, we can affect society.
Take for example in Colored Hearts, we are trying to suggest that we are born in a world full of color, yellow earth, white walls, blue sky, cosmic black, red heart. The color itself does not have any meaning, but we live in an era full of metaphors to make these colors mean something else, sometimes we even forget the value of the color itself. This is the time you need a mother to remind you that your heart is red.”
The band has a devoted following in China, but they’re no lofty rock stars. They’ve had normal lives and also hold day jobs. Read more of the interview with He Fan guitarist Wen Yuzhen (文予真), bassist Zhou Nairen (周乃仁), and Wang Xinjiu (王欣九) to learn more about the band and for further insight into the current youth culture in China.
Birdstriking can be streamed below and is available on iTunes.
Their 2014 UK tour with Brian Jonestown Massacre was documented by Mentha Project:
Complete tour dates:
5/30 LA – Cafe Nela Facebook
5/31 LA – The Grand Star Jazz Club Facebook Tickets
6/1 San Francisco – Brick & Mortar Facebook Tickets
6/5 Portland, OR – Foggy Notion Facebook
6/6 Seattle – Lo-Fi Facebook Tickets
6/7 Missoula – Zootown Arts Community Center Facebook
6/8 Salt Lake City – Diabolical Records Facebook
6/9 Denver – Hi-Dive Facebook Tickets
6/11 Chicago – Burlington Bar Facebook
6/12 Cleveland – Mahall’s Facebook Tickets
6/13 Philadelphia – Ortlieb’s Facebook
6/15 Brooklyn – Baby’s All Right Facebook Tickets
6/17 Milwaukee – Cocoon Room Facebook
6/18 Minneapolis – Kitty Cat Klub Facebook
6/19 Winnipeg – West End Cultural Center
6/20 Saskatoon – MoSo Fest Tickets
6/21 Rocky Mountain House, Alberta – Frog Fest Facebook
6/22 Edmonton – Brixx
6/24 Calgary – Sled Island Festival Facebook Tickets
6/26 Vancouver – Media Club
6/27 Nanaimo, BC – The Globe
6/28 Victoria, BC – Logan’s
6/30 Olympia – Deadbeat Records Facebook
7/2 Nevada City – Cooper’s
7/3 Oakland – Night Light Facebook
Image courtesy of the band