Birth (Defects) – Fictional Days LP (Expert Work Records)

There’s something about farewell records that makes every listening so bittersweet. Whether you know the band or not, like their music or not, it’s kinda sad when you hear another band is calling it quits. Fictional Days by Birth (Defects) is one of those records that serves as a farewell recording assembled of five original compositions and four renditions of grunge, no wave, and hardcore punk classics. Some readers might say this is just an unfinished product consisting of outtakes, but when you dive deeper into the material, you’ll hear another cohesive whole that serves its purpose so brilliantly. And Birth (Defects) are not just another band that desperately needs to put out another record for the sake of fulfilling their discography. They probably felt the need to close an era with something their true fans will totally appreciate, and Fictional Days is definitely one of those records you need in your record collection, no matter if you are or not a fan of this band.

This band perfectly channels everything you dearly love about raw, unfiltered, noisy, aggressive underground music. Having several music genres at your disposal always comes in handy, and Birth (Defects) pretty much perfectly utilize that. Whether exploring those odd, detached, abrasive grunge melodies, harmonies, and themes, taking a deep dive into dissonant, noisy, chaotic noise rock aesthetics, or simply exploiting everything no wave, post-punk, and post-rock have to offer, they pretty much utilize it in their song to the point you’ll press play and say, yup, that’s their sound. This band expertly handles both sides of the spectrum. No matter if they keep particular sections of the songs somewhere close to an almost dark, atmospheric, no-wave soundscape or push the volume to the very limits by delivering screaming guitar riffs, their music always sounds soulful, passionate, emotive, chaotic, and powerful. It tackles all the senses, which should be the purpose of every good record, right?

And it’s surprising how their final songs flawlessly pair with those covers, like they were part of the same writing process. Birth (Defects) certainly put a lot of effort into working on the original tunes, but also deconstructed, reshaped, and delivered those classics in their own unique manner. There’s something about those covers that makes them even more fun to listen to than the original versions. Nirvana, Sonic Youth, SSD, and The Comsat Angels delivered many legendary tunes, but would never achieve this level of experimentation like Birth (Defects) did with their songs. And the original compositions are both entertaining and challenging at the same time. If you love noise rock, grunge, no wave, and post-punk from the bottom of your heart, you’ll stumble upon many moments where this band achieves absolute brilliance by combining tension and release, melody and aggression, mellowness and power, polish and abrasion. Their final songs seem like an emotional rollercoaster where each segment delivers some fresh, unique, innovative, exciting, unpredictable moment, leaving you entirely speechless. Literally, each piece of lyric, every guitar and bass maneuver, and rhyhtmic pattern will play with your reasoning, which should be the point of any noise rock release nowadays.

Fictional Days is maybe a final Birth (Defects) record, but it’s definitely a good one that definitely deserves your utmost attention. It’s packed with nine compositions that will immediately wrap around your listening apparatus, grab you by the collar, and force you to spin this gem all over again. If you’re looking for a fine blend of noise rock, grunge, post-punk, and no wave, Fictional Days will unquestionably be right up your alley!