In a Tom Waits-esque romp, Major Spark have us halfway to believing the conspiracy theory they’ve named their new song after, ‘Birds Aren’t Real’. The band from Boston pay a somewhat satirical homage to the idea that birds are actually government surveillance spies.
“Polly Polly wants a cracker, Polly is a code hacker, Polly Polly is a data tracker”
It’s obvious when you think about it; birds are an ever-present sight, pretty much everywhere in the world, so it’s not hard to think that maybe, just maybe, they’re not as innocent as we think. Major Spark take the idea a step further, and leaping onto the popular conspiracy theory that birds are actually spies for the government – which government is never made clear – and take it a step further, asking, if birds are secret agents, then why not dogs and cats?
‘Birds Aren’t Real’ is set to a super groovy instrumental track, which hovers somewhere between Bossa Nova and 60s beach rock. Singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Mark Goodman, is 3 parts Talking Heads’ David Byrne and 2 parts John Flansburgh, from They Might Be Giants. Incidentally the latter sang a song called ‘Birdhouse For Your Soul’. Coincidence? Hmm.
Joining Goodman is producer/multi-instrumentalist Brian Charles, and the duo have been making a lot of great music over the years, and clearly equally having a lot of fun along the way.
Spookily, as if the song was touching a nerve it shouldn’t have, ‘Birds Aren’t Real’ was recorded at Zippah, Brian Charles’ studio – only nights before it burned to the ground from a mysterious and unexplained fire. Perhaps the theory has more substance than we think.
The music video for ‘Birds Aren’t Real’ is composed of amassed government footage, assembled and edited by Philip Stevenson, the head of Nightworld Records. The clips, which even include video of real birds – show just how obsessed the government is with birds, as well as human surveillance. While it’s a fun song that will have you up and dancing, it’s also one that will make you think, “Nahhhhh….ahh maybe”.
Watch the video for ‘Birds Aren’t Real’ below and find out more about Major Spark and their music online on their official website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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