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Friday Full-Length: Firebird, No. 3

Guitarist Bill Steer will invariably always be best known for his work in goregrind progenitors Carcass. No getting around that. When those storied Liverpudlian medical dictionary aficionados broke up following 1996’s undervalued Swansong, Steer went on to form Firebird in 1999, releasing a self-titled debut that year through Lee Dorrian‘s Rise Above Records and offering Deluxe through the original Music for Nations (R.I.P. 2004) in 2001. By the time No. 3 came out in 2003 on SPV/Steamhammer, Steer had already been through multiple lineups of the band and had already proven his mettle in classic heavy rock songwriting. Dude may have cut his teeth exhuming to consume, but he could boogie with the best of ’em.

Unsurprisingly, lead guitar is a major presence throughout the Firebird discography, and No. 3 is no exception in that regard. Joined by drummer George “Jolle” Atlagic and bassist Roger Nilsson, both also of Sweden’s The Quill, Steer offered a bevvy of guitar-led styles, from the particularly Mountain-esque opener “Cross the Line” and “Hard Hearted,” to the mellow finale “Friend,” never quite touching on Cactus or Humble Pie directly, and certainly never as grandiose as Led Zeppelin or as proto-doomed as original-era Black Sabbath, but digging into ’70s heavy rock in a way that was still prescient in 2003, never mind in 1999, complicating — also reinforcing, considering two-thirds of the band’s geography at this point; but Steer was doing the core craft — the narrative that vintage-style heavy rock was a Swedish invention.

No. 3 is warm throughout its 10-song/47-minute flow, classy even in more riotous moments like “Tumbling Down” or “End of the Day,” and across its span, it offers a sound so organic and material so wholly unpretentious one would think Steer had never played anything else. Why on earth would he? From the John Lennon-meets-Nick Drake album cover to the softshoe-worthy that is side B’s “Dream Ride,” coming as it does after the dulyfirebird no 3 rolling “Long Gone” and the back and forth volume swells of “Off the Leash,” both of which top six minutes and are the two longest inclusions in succession — a purposeful-feeling move endemic to classic rock B sides, Steer drawing the listener deeper into the album’s scope as it broadens.

And while No. 3 is for sure a ‘guitar’ album, with songs written by a guitarist, one would be remiss not to consider the organ work throughout — especially effective on “Off the Leash” — or the harmonica that adds bluesy flourish to “Hard Hearted,” or even the slide guitar (is that slide or is Steer just that damn smooth a player?) in “Station” and the percussion in the extra-hooky, uptempo “Stoned Believer,” an early highlight chorus that rounds out the leadoff salvo behind “Cross the Line” and “Tumbling Down.” Particularly in the keys — some by Steer himself, some by Tomas Pettersson — there’s a richness to No. 3 that goes beyond riffs or leads. “Station” brings that out after the initial push of the first three tracks, but it’s introduced in “Tumbling Down” and it becomes a defining element of the record, enhancing the melody, allowing the guitar space to breathe, and complementing the work of the rhythm section, playing intricately into “Hard Hearted” and making the groove all the more complex for doing so ahead of “End of the Day”‘s more brash take ending side A. Maybe that’s setup for what comes around with the more patient take of “Long Gone” and “Off the Leash,” the first of which doesn’t have keys as a focal point and the second which most definitely does, but hell, if it works, why argue?

“Off the Leash” could have easily closed the record. It’s quiet at the very end, but by then the payoff has been completed and the vibe of the entirety of No. 3 well reinforced on just about every level. The subsequent “Dream Ride” might feel like an epilogue as a result, but its layered back-half solo, semi-Southern, way bluesy — still with room for organ — is its own excuse for being, and while “Friend” is hardly a grand finale or anything in terms of its overarching energy, it picks up the thread of “Off the Leash” and carries a melodic resonance that’s worth underscoring in the album’s final moments, a kind of melancholy that feels less performative or tacked on than like it’s been there all the while and is at last (literally) surfacing.

Firebird were an undervalued band, and No. 3 is an undervalued album. I guess that’s the core of it. In my mind there’s nothing too flashy about what they did, and Bill Steer was certainly never one for vocal histrionics, but on the songwriting and performance level, there was nothing they left the audience wanting. They did more, of course. No. 3 was the halfway point in a six-LP/decade-plus run that soon found them back on Rise Above Records, which would handle their final three full-lengths. Hot Wings was released in 2006, Grand Union (review here; interview here) in 2009, and their own swansong, Double Diamond (review here), in 2010. I had been fortunate enough to see them live in 2009 at Roadburn in the Netherlands, and it was a joy. The lineup was different — Ludwig Witt on drums, I recall — but the naturalist affect and the feeling of celebrating the roots of heavy rock were palpable. It was there waiting to be dug. I dug it.

At that point, Carcass had already been reunited for a few years. I saw them too somewhere in their earlier re-going — maybe with Napalm DeathStarland Ballroom in NJ? was that the same show? — before they put out 2013’s Surgical Steel, and was a little bummed out at how comparatively staid Steer was in comparison to what I’d witnessed with Firebird however long before. Not that I expected him to boogie down to “Corporal Jigsaw Quandary,” but it seemed to me a kind of through-the-motions thing. Maybe it was an off night. Carcass has certainly had a successful run since then — hype for their forthcoming Torn Arteries is part of what sent me back to No. 3 in the first place — and I haven’t caught them since, so I can’t comment on that. Maybe if they tour I should go. Probably.

In any case, Firebird called it a day in 2011, a decade ago, and I’m not expecting a reunion anytime soon — though if Steer wanted to, he certainly could — but their work stands up exactly as the best of classic heavy should.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

My alarm was set for 5AM. I woke up at 4:35 and was out of bed at 4:38 after three minutes of agonizing over the decision/convincing myself to be awake. The Pecan has three more weeks of camp, then a week and a half off before school starts up. By the time that break comes, I want to be up at 4:30 daily if not 4AM, so I figure I’d better start the transition now, ease myself into it rather than the usual shock and awe approach I take. I don’t know if it’s better or worse, but I’ve been waking up at 5:30 regularly and that’s been luxurious enough to get me spoiled. If I’m up sooner than that, the extra time to work will go to use.

Though as I found this morning, the work pretty much takes as long as you’ve got anyhow. The above was written before dropping The Pecan off at camp, this after. So wakeup, breakfast for him, brush teeth, change clothes, all that between about 7-8AM, then dropoff and back here at circa 8:30 and dig back in. It’s a quick morning but can be intense for that. Today was okay. The other day was a nightmare, biting and scratching to get him to put on the bathing suit that Apple Montessori wants them to wear when they show up. I have cuts on my arm. Fine. I’ve learned in parenting that every day is a new reality. Some of them are bound to be terrible. Lots, in fact.

This was a busy week, writing-wise. Next week is too. I’m falling into a pattern of doubling up on premieres each day, and I’ve done this long enough to see it happening. Some are longer reviews, some shorter, but yeah. That’s getting to be a lot and it’s just kind of becoming the mode in which I work. I used to avoid it like the plague, doing more than one. Now, without as much news to focus on, largely without tours and such, there’s room. I wish I had more Obelisk Questionnaires in though. That’s fallen by the wayside a bit and I’d like to bring it back around again.

But Monday, one premiere and I think an interview. Tuesday, two premieres. Wednesday, premieres, one with a review, one with an announcement. Thursday, one premiere so far. Friday, another interview. I’ll probably have more booked for Thursday or Friday by the time the weekend’s out. I’m thankful anyone gives enough of a shit about what I do that they want to work with me. That’s worth getting out of bed for. Plus the coffee’s good.

New Gimme show 5PM Eastern today. Please listen: http://gimmeradio.com

I hope you have a great and safe weekend. Have fun, stay hydrated, watch your head, all that stuff. Thanks if you buy Obelisk merch. Thanks for reading either way.

FRM.

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2 Responses to “Friday Full-Length: Firebird, No. 3

  1. jose humberto says:

    I love that album! I have all Firebird releases , this one is awesome

  2. Craig Campbell says:

    Yeah, JJ! Firebird is so underrated in some circles. Glad to read your review while listening to it. Great record!

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