Review: AVEM – “Three Birds Stoned”

Mom’s Basement Records – 26 Aug 2022

Trio of bird enthusiasts (mostly) keep their debut LP in the air

“A! V! E! M! Motherfuckin’ bird of prey!” With this anthem we are launched into the debut LP by Canadian bird nerds (self-described) AVEM. Yes, it is a simple anthem. Is it also fun? Definitely. It is a positive sign of what’s to come on Three Birds Stoned.

Let’s get this out of the way right now, shall we? Yes, AVEM is a bird-themed remonescore-style band out of Canada. Yes, each and every song is either about birds, from birds’ point of view, or about humans who love birds. It seems like a wacky concept and, well, it is. But it is also a lot of fun.

AVEM don’t really have a set style outside of being part of the (actually quite) broad “ramonescore” genre. On their debut LP, the band taps into a lot of the different subsets found within that classification, little nooks that their forebears carved out to make their own niche. Want to hear some spooky shit? “Calling Card”, “Mother Nature Really Sucks”, and “Martian Wren” got you covered. Sweeter, sappier songs? “Let’s Go Watching” and “Keep You Safe” will satisfy you. There’s also a lot in between and AVEM seems to know every nook and cranny of ramonescore, applying all of the different flavors to the album. In my estimation, this is a good thing, because sometimes when a band sticks to one particular style ad nauseam, well… ad nauseam and all that.

But back to that bird theme, and what a theme it is! Masked Intruder and The Jasons may come to mind as acts that dive full bore into their chosen theme. But while both of those groups really make the most of their gimmick, I doubt that the members of MI are actually grizzled, hardened felons; or that members of The Jasons are really mass murderers (maybe?). But AVEM truly are bird enthusiasts, and they are in it reaaaal deep. So let’s just say that what you hear here is about as true to life and accurate as it can be.

The album features 19 songs in total, the last four of which are from the Jan 2022 Sing Every Day EP, albeit in a slightly different order (more on that later). That’s a lot of tracks to cover, so we’ll focus on some of the standouts.

It launches with “AVEM”, the lyrics of which I mentioned above, in what seems to be a common pop punk trope: Gang chorus the letters of the band name and add in another simple verse or two. Follow-up “Rat Race” is fun, but what I feel makes it stand out a bit different than a lot of songs in general is the cadence of the verses, which don’t entirely fit the rhythm of the music, but still land. It adds to a very sinister-eque or, at least, off-putting sense that a lot of these songs possess. This track leads into the first song from a human perspective, “Let’s Go Watching”. A mid-tempo ditty that’s sweet and catchy, as love blooms while heading out to go bird watching.

Moving a bit down the tracklist, “No Homo” is a notable stand-out. No, it isn’t anti-gay, despite what your initial reaction to the title might be. Looping around the song actually tackles how homosexuality has been observed with birds and many other animal species in the world, and that there is no negative stigma within the animal’s community regarding it. So why do humans so readily vilify it? AVEM pulls no punches in calling out the anti-LGBT arguments made by people whose arguments are based nothing approaching logic or reality.

“Happy Hummingbird” is a cute bass line with a kazoo performance over it. It is short and fun but, most importantly, I feel it marks a turning point with the album. On vinyl, you’d probably flip it at this point and on the proverbial side B the songs feel like they expand out a bit more into experimentation. While side A feels fairly straight-forward, this side has a lot more variation in how the band tackles these songs. Part of this could be that earlier songs from the Sing Every Day EP appear here at the end (once again, more on that later) and, of course, those are from an earlier point in the band’s songwriting existence. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Hard to tell. Could they have blended the songs together a bit more throughout the entirety of the album? Maybe, but I’m not sure if that would help or hinder.

“Such A Mess”, which is fast and hard (surprisingly so), shares a bird’s point of view on how it simply can’t understand how humans have ruined their home and environment. “Snowy Owl” is straight forward in concept (“You’ll never see me coming”) but once again brings in some keyboard joy to really turn up the paranoia level.

“Nigel” is, well… it’s about a bird who fell in love with a concrete decoy used to lure it’s species back to a remote island. It is a true story, and heartbreaking while a bit funny at the same time.

Most of these songs are super-catchy, but if one really burrow (owl)-ed its way into my brain it is “Really Gotta Go” about, you guessed it, migration. Not sure why as it comes across as a by-the-numbers pop punk song but, damn, it’s soooo good. Could it be the faster tempo and clean vocals, with prerequisite sing-along “Whoa-ohh Whoa-ohh“s and the perfect rhythm section?

We finish off the “new” tracks with the dark “Calling Card”. I won’t spoil this one for you, but it comes a bit from left field, and is a blast.

If I had a complaint, and this is minor one, it is that the album seems almost a bit too full. Nineteen songs, regardless of run time, is a lot. The songs from the Sing Every Day EP are great, but I think they work better as a stand-alone EP, and not also tacked on to the new LP. Excising them would’ve shaved about 11 minutes from the album, bringing it closer to a lean 30 minutes total with 15 tracks. Their inclusion at the end is probably what makes the flip-side feel different from the front. My opinion but, editorially, that might’ve been the better direction to go to make a more concise album.

So where does this leave us? Well, the album is a lot of fun, full of catchy tunes. And while they run up and down the ramonescore spectrum, AVEM most of all reminds me more of The Lilllingtons of the scene than they do, say, the Teenage Bottlerockets of the world. This could be the vocals, the overall tone, or something more. I can’t over-emphasize how stupidly catchy a lot of these songs are, and while “Really Gotta Go” may be my ear worm, I’m certain that you’re going to end with one or two yourself but the time you are done with this album.

Frankly, if you love ramonescore, you should definitely check this out. If you don’t, you may still dig the music anyway, but should definitely give it a try based on the theme alone. The “Yellow Moose” will keep you chuckling to yourself for days on end.