Review: Long Birds – “I Had a Dream I was Skateboarding”

Self-released – 05 Nov 2021

Illinois skate punk trio does that and more on debut LP

I want to start by mentioning that, while Long Birds play as a three piece now (or, at least, performs live as a three piece), this album was recorded with Elliott Ross doing guitar and vocals, along with the drums, and Mina Mazeikis on bass and vocals. So if it seems strange that I keep referring to Elliot on multiple instruments… now you know why!

If there’s one thing I like, it’s fun and fast punk. Another thing I like is to enjoy bands on their debut releases. Often you can hear a group that is still finding it’s way, but has the will and the hunger to get there.

Long Birds’ new LP, I Had a Dream I was skateboarding is one of those albums. Is it perfect? No, but few things ever are. Is there a lot of potential here? Hell yes. Am I enjoying it? Definitely.

Long Birds refer to themselves on their Bandcamp page as “skate punk revival (we can’t skateboard),” which sounds like something I’m going to check out 99% of the time. The band has a high tempo style with a lot of metal lixx thrown in for good measure. Like most good bands, though, they can be serious in their music, while also showing a bit of fun and humor to lighten things up occasionally.

The title track “I Had a Dream I was Skateboarding” also launches the album with a fun little guitar intro before blasting into some dual vocals (you’ll hear a lot of these) between Elliot and Mina. Both present a range of vocals throughout the album, but you’ll find that Mina is surprisingly adept at hardcore vocals. While both sound to be accomplished musicians, Elliot seems to be a deft hand on both guitar AND drums. Honestly, although he sounds pretty good on the former, good guitarists are a dime a dozen, but I’d definitely tap him for punk-style drumming any day.

Further in, “Calling Off” brings a bit of ska-punk into the mix, and also some of the more light-hearted sound this band can pull of. Listen more, though, and you’ll see just how well Long Birds composes their songs; and appreciate the slick bass line. The vocals are hoarse, noisy, and sloppy, which only adds to the fun. This is followed up another lighter song, albeit in a melodic punk vein. “Driving to Rapid City” is super-duper fast, with lightning drum fills and subtle, but effective backing vocals.

“June 2” is the first track to feature Mina primarily on vocals. It’s pretty damn punk. As I mentioned before, she has great chops on punk and hardcore vocals. Traditional singing such as in the chorus of the song? Not so much. Whether or not this is intentional, for me it adds to the charm. “Safety Net Third Degree” is another Mina-centric track and, boy oh boy, this one she goes all out in the growly yelling. I think I prefer her this way. This song is structured as a slow-burn hardcore track, and I enjoy it. If I had a specific criticism of it, I’d want the guitars to be more solid and deep. I think it would’ve added some more oomph to the song. This is followed up by another ska-punk/Mina number “Missing Pieces,” and it brings the horns! It’s highly reminiscent of the early-to-mid-90s ska-punk sound.

Penultimate track “Slice of Life” is a slice of music clocking in at 47 seconds before dropping out and leading us to the final track “To Kimball.” Elliot starts out the vocals but it quickly becomes a dual vocals song that follows through to the end. Singing fast by yourself is tough enough, keeping up with another is even harder. But Long Birds pull it off on a fast and enjoyable closing number.

As debut LPs go, this is pretty good. The production can be fuzzy a times, which can either be chalked up to a lower budget or intention. I’m not going to speculate on that, but it’s good to know going in. Importantly (at least in my mind) the percussion is nice and clean. I can forgive a lot if the drums sound good in both performance and audio presentation.

That’s not to say that there aren’t areas which can use some improvement, though, and while most of this I think comes from their relative youth, I have no doubts that they’ll keep getting better. This band plays fast and furious, but sometimes the riffs and guitar fills can sound a little too rushed. While I applaud the skill in transitioning from chords to a quick solo or fill and back in quick succession, it can sometimes sound a bit rushed. Another, and anyone who knows me knows this is a pet peeve of mine, is multiple guitar tracks from a single guitarist. Overdubbing rhythm is one thing to give body to the music, but when the album presents the sound of dueling solos that can never be played live (without adding a new member) for me it takes a bit of the fun out of it. And this album has A LOT of that. I know I can enjoy the composition on tape, but I also know that it’s just not possible in person without personnel additions or similar. For punk bands especially, I normally like to hear what can be done live, not what can be built on in a studio. That’s just me and, like I said, it’s a personal pet peeve (it likely doesn’t matter to anyone else, haha).

Back to the good stuff, though, that being said this album has a kind of “recorded in one take” (whether or not that is true) sound that I love and crave in music. It doesn’t sound over-produced and it doesn’t try to achieve a type of perfection on tape that a record exec would think sounds good, but actually comes across as stale. There’s an energy and vibe on I Had a Dream that I was Skateboarding that makes you wish you were, too… and blaring classic skate punk on your Sony Walkman.