Bill Steer (ex-
Carcass) hooks up with members of
Cathedral and
Spiritual Beggars? Sounds extremely promising. Thus it's extremely disappointing that Firebird sounds like a bar band most of the time, the best bar band in town but a bar band nonetheless. The right elements are occasionally present -- the weighty blues riff of "Stranger to Himself," the distorted bass rumble on "One Trick Pony," the acoustic
Zeppelin-ish intro that leads into "Through the Fields." However, any potential is stunted by either bland changes or bland production. The only real bright spot is "Bollard," where a cool, lava lamp moodiness is offset by Steer's dense bottom-end guitar. Steer's vocals, nearing
Jack Bruce territory, are also a strong point but cannot save the whole album. It's a plus that Firebird sounds nothing like
Carcass but, because of the connection, one still expects a certain level of inventiveness and drive. Firebird come up lacking on both these points; hopefully the band will still find its voice and not settle on the sound of this debut. ~ Matthew Kantor