Birdmonster - From the Mountain to the Sea

From the Mountain to the Sea (2008, Faded Label) Birdmonster's second studio album. ***1/2

Birdmonster make simple, straight-ahead, good and honest alternative folk rock. They don't try to be overly complex and they aren't trying to channel any one specific sound. That might come off as Birdmonster not having a unique voice, because in all honesty, the instrumentation of the album isn't what defines the band in the slightest. It's vocalist Peter Arcuni that makes Birdmonster, and in particular From the Mountain to the Sea, magical. Arcuni sounds like a young Stephen Stills, specifically from his time with Buffalo Springfield (and a cover of "For What It's Worth" wouldn't have been out of line).

"My Love For You" opens things softly and introduces Arcuni near naked, as there's not much instrumentation behind him. "Lost at Sea" comes next, and sets the general attitude of most of the songs, as they tend to be in the vein of up-tempo folk numbers, and "Lost at Sea" is the best of those. But when they mood is more mellow, there are jewels like "Concrete Lights," an acoustic ballad that evolves with an electric guitar. But it is Arcuni's vocals that make the song, which is fairly monotone and only ever seems to go up, never descending as the listener so deperately predicts. It happens again on "The Only One," which features the entire band coming into full swing over time, but its message is simple if not beautiful: "I was young/and you were the only one." And later, "But there was the only truth/Could have been anyone/Just so happened that it was you."

Ear-pleasing to say the least, most of From the Mountain to the Sea is filled with catchy numbers. Arcuni and company would have no trouble going unplugged with these; really, an acoustic guitar and piano might suit most of these tracks better than the full-electric approach they've given it. A never-pretentious, always enjoyable and smooth effort. (My Love For You, Born to Be Your Man, Concrete Lights, The Only One)