The Mutton Birds: Too Hard Basket + Angle Of Entry (and Marshmallow)

Crowded House have always been a bit of a guilty pleasure at BPFE towers. I like to think I’m down with ‘The Kids’ (in a dignified, forty-something kinda way). I know my ‘Avenged For My Valentine’ from my ‘My Chemical Hannah Montana’ or whoever, but I still love ‘The Crowdies’ (jeez, even their bloody nickname sounds twee). And it’s through them, I discovered the Mutton Birds, via a Neil Finn production credit.  The CD in question was ‘Nature’ - a Mutton Birds compilation drawn from their first two albums. Thanks to a worldwide record deal with Virgin, The MB’s left their native New Zealand, moved to the UK and starved for two years before splitting up. Sound familiar?

Anyhoo, I loved ‘em. Frontman Don McGlashan is an incredibly good songwriter (a kind of cheerful Mark Eitzel) and their albums are stuffed with bostin’ tunes as we say in Dudley. I urge you strongly to grab ‘Envy Of Angels’, ‘Rain, Steam And Speed’ and anything else by them. They were also terrific live – McGlashan was always great value and the band were spot on.

These two albums are limited edition fanclub dealio’s. I’ve trawled long and hard (insert smutty joke here) and can find no trace of ‘em for sale, so here they are. “Too Hard Basket” is a compilation of ‘B’ sides and non-album stuff and ‘Angle Of Entry’ is an acoustic Live CD recorded in London in July 1997. Guess what? Both are great.

So if you like intelligent pop with a whistleable tune and a well-tooled turn of phrase, press them buttons now. Satisfaction guaranteed.

( Ooohhh, before you go, I must tell you about MARSHMALLOW. They were formed by MBs Bassist Alan Gregg  - writer of a handful of ace tunes whilst in the band. They released a self titled album in 2003 and it’s as good as anything the MB’s did. I think it’s still available (try this link), so I’m not gonna post it, but here’s a video to tempt you. ‘Anytime Soon’ is a gorgeous, five star hookfest that’ll eat it’s way into your brain, move the furniture and change the settings on the radio. A warning for diabetics tho’ – some of the lyrics are a wee bit sugary, but hey – we like PowerPop don’t we? A genre not normally noted for Kafka-esque insight into the human condition…)

Marshmallow: 'Anytime Soon'

...hang on!- I need to mention a great Mutton Birds and related site - 'A Religion Of A Kind' - your one stop shop fer all yer Mutton Birds needs...

Too Hard Basket

Angle Of Entry