07 Jun 2021 // A review by Chris Chick
The self-professed ‘Simon & Garfunkel’ of Aotearoa bring their first album to the listening ears of all New Zealanders and let us not beat around the bush, this is a corker of epic proportions. From the steadfast sound of the banjo piercing your ears delightful receptacles, to some rather incredibly smooth harmonies backed up by some rasping bass lines. The way they all fit together is like a well thought out sonnet written in German, you know it’s going to be on point and people are going to listen.

The first 3 songs are such a fantastic way to start any album, just a mix of frantic harmonies (Art and Design) and a much mellow journey of wonderful guitar and harmonies together for Counting Stars which really gets the self-retrospection chair ready for a little swinging back and forth.

My favourite song of the album is Everybody Needs A Little Sunshine. I had the privilege of reviewing this song at the beginning of the year and instantly never regretted hearing it. Though all the songs on this album are strong, it is the upbeat nature and ridiculously funny video they made for this song that will always have a special place on my Spotify playlist.

The number 7 song Cave Rave has a very Santana meets the folk scene feel to it and not surprisingly I dig all of the three minutes and twenty seven seconds, it gets to play through my speakers. I am just constantly impressed by how the banjo can be constantly used through this album but still sound fresh and not get boring.

Strangers In My Doorway provides that tear jerker moment of introspection that brings yet another piece to the proverbial Turkey the Bird pie that can be scoffed up with no issue of intestinal problems on the horizon. I like how they finish the song with a wonderful mix of harmonies, this tells me that these guys are always thinking about new ways of doing things rather than following typical formulas.

Oh I did chuckle at the last song, I will let you in with its name later, but for now when I recognized it as a 1980’s classic, I was a little sceptical at first. Then the beat picked up and with a cheesy grin on my face I started joining in with the well-known lyrics of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper. In true Turkey the Bird fashion, they give it a real make over with a folk twist very much to my liking.

I am not going to lie, as it is impossible for me to do that in the first place, this is my new favourite band of 2021. I love everything about them, their melodies, their harmonies, their cross over of music genres, and of course that wonderful banjo. This definitely gets a Chris Chick thumbs up 4 stars out of 5 from me, and I am extremely excited to see what they have planned for the future, and will be checking out their live gig at some point.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ ( 4 / 5 )

Turkey The Bird is New Zealand's answer to 'Simon & Garfunkel' if '&' was a musician too.

Catchy folk songs with stunning rich melodies and effortless smooth lyrics. Songs that tell uplifting stories about love and life.

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